'Confident! My visit will provide new impetus to our strategic partnership', says PM Modi as he heads to France

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is travelling to France at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron, will be the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day Parade in Paris on July 14.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has departed for an official visit to France and UAE from Palam Airport on Thursday morning. Ahead of his departure to France, PM Modi expressed confidence that his visit to France will provide a new impetus to the bilateral strategic partnership and said that he looks forward to holding wide-ranging discussions with President Emmanuel Macron on taking forward this time-tested relationship over the next 25 years.

PM Modi in a statement said that he is looking forward to meeting Macron. "I look forward to meeting President Macron and holding wide-ranging discussions on taking forward this longstanding and time-tested partnership over the next 25 years."

From Paris, PM Modi will be travelling to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for an official visit on July 15. On his UAE visit, Modi said, "I look forward to meeting my friend, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi." Our two countries are engaged across a wide range of sectors such as trade, investments, energy, food security, science and technology, education, fintech, defence, security, and robust people-to-people ties, Modi added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Paris at the invitation of Emmanuel Macron, President of France where the Indian Prime Minister will be the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day Parade on July 14, where a tri-services Indian armed forces contingent would be participating. During his visit to France, Modi is also scheduled to meet the country's Prime Minister as well as the Presidents of the Senate and the National Assembly of France. He will separately interact with the Indian diaspora in France, CEOs of Indian and French companies, and prominent French personalities.

On July 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Abu Dhabi and hold talks with United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. This will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fifth visit to the Gulf country since assuming office in 2014. In the past, the Prime Minister visited the UAE, in June 2022, August 2019, February 2018, and August 2015.