India, France have shared interest focused on friendship: Macron

Ahead of his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in France, President Emmanuel Macron has said that the two countries have a “shared interest” focused on friendship.

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Prime Minister Modi on Monday embarked on a two-nation tour that will first take him to France and then the US.

During his three-day visit to France starting Monday, Modi will co-chair the AI Action Summit with Macron in Paris, hold bilateral talks with him, and address business leaders.

In a video interview with India’s Firstpost and French news network France 2 in Paris, Macron shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence (AI) and its global impact, India-France ties, and his views on the US.

During the interaction, the French president highlighted India’s strength in technology and education, a statement said.

“India is a training superpower—one million engineers a year, more than the US and Europe combined,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.

“We have shared interest focused on friendship,” the French president said.

In response to a query, he said, “We want to train our talent so that they can go abroad, but they should also be at home.”

At the beginning of the interview, Macron greeted the people of India in Hindi, saying, ‘Bharat ke logon ko mera namaste’, and ended it by saying ‘Bahut shukriya’ (many thanks).

At a special briefing in Delhi on February 7, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had shared the broad itinerary of the prime minister’s visit to France.

Modi will attend a dinner hosted by Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Monday, which is likely to be attended by a large number of CEOs from the tech domain along with other distinguished invitees to the summit.

On February 11, the prime minister will co-chair the AI Action Summit, along with Macron.

He will also hold discussions in both restricted and delegation formats and address the India-France CEO’s Forum, Misri said.

The two leaders are also scheduled to visit the Mazargues War Cemetery maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Marseille on Wednesday, and pay tributes to the sacrifices made by the Indian soldiers in World War I.

Last year, India and France celebrated the 25^th anniversary of their strategic partnership, covering an entire gamut of issues, from defence and security, civil nuclear matters, space to trade, economy and commerce.