French Senate Chairman on India visit, meets Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar

New Delhi, February 19

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Gerard Larcher, veteran politician and Chairman of the French Senate, is on a two-day official visit to India from Monday to strengthen bilateral ties and parliamentary cooperation.

Larcher is accompanied by a delegation of five Senators, who are members of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee or the France-India Friendship Group. This will mark the first official visit to India by a Chairman of the French Senate, the Upper House of France’s Parliament. When Larcher was first elected to the Senate in 1986 at the age of 37, he was one of the youngest French Senators. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Larcher during his state visit to France last year.

The delegation also met leaders of the Congress. “Each time a delegation from the Senate travels, I try to meet the representatives of the Opposition. We met with the leaders of the Congress, which was once led by great personalities, including Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and Indira Gandhi,” noted the Senate Chairman in an X post.

A politician with the rightwing camp, Larcher and his delegation met Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to discuss ways to increase cooperation between the French Senate and India’s Parliament. “We discussed the new dimension that we wish to give to the relationship between our two assemblies. A draft agreement has been proposed and could be concluded soon,” posted Larcher on X. He will also call on PM Modi. Larcher will also meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss the current dynamic in bilateral relations and gain a better understanding of India’s growing geopolitical role.