President Hollande, PM Modi Sign MoU to Buy 36 Rafale Aircraft
Live updates from day 2 of French President Francois Hollande’s 3-day visit to India.
- India signs MoU on the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft from France.
French President Francois Hollande landed in India yesterday for a three day visit. - Today he met President Pranab Mukherjee after he inspected a guard of honour.
- He is holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Hyderabad House in Delhi.
- Yesterday, President Hollande had mentioned the Rafale deal as one of the main reasons behind his visit to India.
- President Hollande will be the chief guest for the 67th Republic Day parade in Delhi on 26 January 2016.
Modi and Hollande Inaugurate ISA
President Francois Hollande and PM Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated The International Solar Alliance Secretariat in Gurgaon, on Monday. In his inaugural address, Modi said:
To promote eco-friendly travel, PM Modi and French President Francois Hollande took the Delhi metro to Gurgaon to inaugurate the International Solar Alliance Secretariat, on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande Deliver Joint Statement
Among several announcements, an MoU of purchase of Rafale aircrafts was exchanged and signed by the Defence Ministers of the two countries. However, financial matters related to the purchase remained unresolved.
Watch the statement here:
Highlights from PM Modi’s speech:
- Environmental protection is a part of the rainbow of Indo-French bilateral ties.
- Attacks like Pathankot and Paris are examples of growing terrorism.
- All the programmes announced today will enhance our bilateral ties.
- Besides few financial matters, we have completed the Rafale aircraft purchase.
- This will be the fifth time that we will have a French President as the chief guest for Republic day.
- On the occasion of Indian Republic Day, we take pride in inviting you as the chief guest.
Here are the highlights from President Francois Hollande’s statement:
- Civil nuclear technology: we are planning to build 6 EPR reactors.
- Solar alliance: it was a dream to launch international alliance to launch a solar energy project.
- We will put our expertise and skills to use for PM Modi’s idea of smart cities.
- You have a clean energy 2030 goal and France has to stand by India.
- There remain financial issues which will be sorted out.
- These are the aircrafts fighting in Syria and Iraq.
- In France he announced willingness to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets.
- We are also initiating measures to ensure cyber security.
- We agreed on a roadmap to ensure maritime safety.
- We have decided to strengthen our co-operation against terrorism.
- The ISIS is proud of their doings but we will not be repressed.
- France and India were attacked, and we know who hit us. It was Daesh.
- France and India are both aware of the threats against peace including terrorism.
- We were happy to conclude the agreement, but we know who we owe it to.
France Announces $10 Billion Investment in India
Even as the two leaders are discussing possible deals between India and France, the French Finance Minister has announced an investment of $ 10 billion in the Make In India initiative.
Sapin is in India as a part of President Hollande’s delegation and was speaking at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi on Monday, according to a report by The Financial Express.
The investments will be mainly in the industrial sector. The investment comes at a time when President Hollande has expressed wish to sign the Rafale deal with India.
PM Modi and President Hollande Hold Talks
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande are holding talks over lunch at the Hyderabad House in Delhi.
President Hollande had spoken about the landmark Rafale deal that he intends to talk about with PM Modi during his visit.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj are also present at the meeting along with the PM’s delegation.
French President Francois Hollande arrived in India for a three-day visit on the morning of Sunday, 24 January 2016. After his visit to Chandigarh, Hollande was received by Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar at the Palam Air Force Base in Delhi on Sunday night.
Today, Hollande received a red carpet welcome as he inspected a guard of honour before meeting President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Hollande has visited the Indo-French cultural centre in Delhi, Alliance Française de Delhi. He also met Minister of Foreign affairs Sushma Swaraj at the cultural centre.
On day one of visit, Modi and Hollande visited the Rock Garden, the Capitol Complex, and the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh.
After the visit, the two attended a CEOs forum and a business summit during which 16 agreements were signed between Indian and French companies.
On day 2, Hollande is scheduled to inaugurate the interim secretariat of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative launched by him and Modi at the Climate Change summit in Paris in December 2015.
Hollande will also lay the foundation stone of the headquarters of ISA, which is aimed at increasing utilisation and promotion of solar energy in solar-rich nations.
The event will be held at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gurgaon.
The Quint brings you live updates of the visit.
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