The President of France, Francois Hollande, will be in India from Februrary 14-15. Accompanying him on his maiden visit to the country since assuming office will be a high-level delegation consisting Cabinet Ministers and businesspersons; this comes shortly after India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid met his French counterpart in Paris, in January.
On the first day of his two-day visit, Hollande will meet and hold discussions with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, the Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, Sonia Gandhi, and the leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj.
On February 15, he will proceed to Mumbai, where he will meet and hold a discussion with the Governor of Maharashtrana before addressing a business conference. His Mumbai sojourn is likely to be met with renewed protests against the proposed French nuclear power project in Jaitapur, Maharashtra.
Also on the table is the $12 billion deal to buy 126 Rafale aircraft from France’s Dassault Aviation. This, coupled with the reports of adding 63 more jets under a separate contract comes at a time when our defence budget is shrinking.
The India-France bilateral relationship has traditionally been friendly in nature. France is the first country to enter into an agreement with India on nuclear energy following the waiver given by International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group. The India-France Agreement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation was signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to France in September 2008. France is the 9th largest foreign investor in India, with the bilateral trade between the two pegged at € 7.46 billion in 2011.