New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi exuded confidence that his visit to France, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain would strengthen India’s relations with time-tested friends and help explore new areas of cooperation.
The visit comes at a time when India is working to gather support from world leaders on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir to neutralise the efforts of Pakistan to internationalise the matter.
Mr Modi landed in Paris on Thursday for a bilateral engagement with French President Emmanuel Macron. On Friday, Mr Modi will meet the French Prime Minister Edouard Charles Philippe and address an event of the Indian community.
From France, Mr Modi will travel to the UAE from August 23-24 for a meeting with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest. Mr Modi would also receive the Order of Zayed, the highest civil decoration of the UAE, which was conferred in April 2019. From UAE, Mr Modi will go to Bahrain on August 24 on a two-day visit where he will hold talks with his counterpart Prince
Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. This will be the first ever Prime Ministerial visit from India to Bahrain.
He will then fly back to France for the G-7 Summit as ‘Biarritz Partner’ from 25-26 August 2019. During the Summit, the Mr Modi is expected to speak in sessions on the environment, climate, oceans and digital transformation. On the sidelines, the Prime Minister will be having bilateral meetings with US President Donald Trump and other world leaders.
“My visit to France reflects the strong strategic partnership, which our two countries deeply value, and share…India and France have excellent bilateral ties, which are reinforced by a shared vision to cooperate for further enhancing peace and prosperity for our two countries and the world at large. Our strong strategic and economic partnership is complemented by a shared perspective on major global concerns such as terrorism, climate change, etc. I am confident that this visit will further promote our long-standing and valued friendship with France for mutual prosperity, peace and progress,” Mr Modi said on his web page and Twitter.
