French President Emmanuel Macron to visit India on March 9

Emmanuel Macron (Files)

French President Emmanuel Macron will arrive in India on March 9 on a four-day maiden visit, during which he will discuss bilateral economic, political and strategic ties, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. A framework agreement on the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) is expected to be signed between the two sides during the visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold delegation-level talks with the French president on March 10. The leaders will co-chair the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) a day later. The initiative to form the ISA for harnessing solar energy was taken by Modi and Macron’s predecessor François Hollande nearly two years ago, the ministry said in a statement. The ISA aims to mobilise $1 trillion of investments needed by 2030 for massive deployment of solar energy, according to the ‘ISA Mission’ on its website.

The last French presidential visit to India was in January 2016, when Hollande was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. Modi last visited France in June, 2017 immediately after Macron was elected president.