French President Emmanuel Macron to arrive in Jaipur on Thursday; to be chief guest at Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, January 24

French President Emmanuel Macron will reach Jaipur on Thursday afternoon and has four major programmes lined up before leaving for Delhi in the evening where he will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.

The three events planned at Jaipur are the visits to Amber Fort, Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal and, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he will participate in a ‘Shobha Yatra’.

The two leaders will then head to Rambagh Hotel, after which they will leave for Delhi in the evening.

The two leaders will also hold a bilateral meeting during which the French are keen on major announcements in the defence and strategic sectors. The Indian side’s focus is on progress in the hi-tech sectors and joint cooperation in the Indo-Pacific as envisaged in the ‘Horizon 2047’ document unveiled during PM Modi’s visit to France as chief guest at the Bastille Day parade last year.

The stage was set for Macron’s visit after his Diplomatic Advisor Emmanuel Bonne met NSA Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on January 13 to tie up the loose ends. Bonne met Doval “to prepare for this important moment and the decisions the two leaders will make for the future of the France-India strategic partnership,” said a French embassy post on X.

The French President had “promptly” agreed to be the chief guest for the January 26 Republic Day celebrations when South Block put in a request, said senior officials. India was left in a quandary with weeks to go for the Republic Day parade after the invited dignitary US President Joe Biden expressed his inability to visit India. An approach to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was also infructuous.