G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration: French President Emmanuel Macron Sunday said India’s G20 Presidency that will come to an end on November 30 sent a message of unity even as Russia continues to fight a war with Ukraine. The French President, who held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of the G20 Summit Sunday, also said New Delhi will procure more arms from Paris.
“Faithful to its principles, India did its utmost for the G20 presidency to serve unity and peace and send across the message of unity while Russia is still waging its aggression on Ukraine… We have a strong bilateral relationship that is dynamic and also incredible,” Macron said while addressing the media after the conclusion of the G20 Summit.
Macron said: “We had a very strong defence partnership which has strengthened in the past two years… PM’s Bastille Day visit was a critical moment and a very important moment. I think the fact that French Day was very proud of the visit. We will follow up on defence, we will develop and deploy on all the different parts of our defence roadmap additional contracts and procurement in the month and years to come.”
He also lauded PM Modi’s efforts to hold the Presidency and bring it to a conclusion with the issuance of a joint statement with full consensus.
"We support a deep reform of global governance. The Security Council as well as the World Bank and the IMF, have to reflect today's reality in terms of demography and economy as well. And then we want to increase the available tools. That's why we want to replenish the World Bank and France is supporting that so that the emerging countries have a greater role to play...," Macron said.
He added: “We worked hand-in-hand with the Prime Minister. I think this Presidency in this current environment, in this fragmented world with a lot of difficulties, has very positive momentum on these critical issues."
ALSO READ | How India Got G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration Clinched Despite Stiff Differences
‘Partnership of Intimacy’
Macron and Modi also held a bilateral meeting Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
“The actual partnership and stronger intimacy in terms of strategy for the region and the world. We have to provide balance in this current environment. We have to resist the fragmentation of this world, and we have to work together to provide solutions to the rest of the world on what makes sense,” said the French leader.
“With the ‘Horizon 2047’ Roadmap, the Indo-Pacific Roadmap and other outcomes during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit serving as recent points of reference, the two leaders discussed overall progress and next steps on the implementation of the new and ambitious goals for cooperation in areas of defence, space, nuclear energy, digital public infrastructure, critical technology, climate change, education, and people-to-people contacts,” said the joint statement by India and France after the meeting.
The ‘Horizon 2047’ roadmap was issued during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to France in July this year.
During the visit, PM Modi had finalised the plan to procure 26 Rafale (Marine) version jets for Indian aircraft carriers and also three additional submarines. France’s Naval Group has already built six Scorpene-class for the Indian Navy under full transfer of technology in collaboration with Mazagon Dock Ltd.
This was the second time when India announced the purchase of 26 Rafale M fighters for the Navy, following the procurement of 36 jets, made by Dassault Aviation, for the Indian Air Force in 2016.