Republic Day 2024: French President Emmanuel Macron’s Diplomatic Advisor Emmanuel Bonne met NSA Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday. The meeting came days ahead of Macron’s visit to India. The French President is set to visit India as the Chief Guest for the January 26 Republic Day celebrations at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bonne met Doval in Delhi. In a post shared by French Embassy on X, it said, “Ahead of President @EmmanuelMacron's India visit for #RepublicDay, his Diplomatic Advisor Emmanuel Bonne met NSA Ajit Doval today in Delhi to prepare for this important moment & the decisions the two leaders will make for the future of the France-India strategic partnership.”
EAM Jaishankar shared a post on X to inform about his meeting with Emmanuel Bonne. "Glad to meet Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Advisor to President of France. Spoke about strong 🇮🇳🇫🇷 convergence on multiple issues. Also shared perspectives on global developments of mutual concern. Look forward to President @EmmanuelMacron’s State visit for #RepublicDay2024," Jaishankar said on X.
India's invitation to the French President for the Republic Day celebrations comes amid a rapid upswing in ties between the two sides including in areas of defence and security, clean energy, trade and investment and new technologies.
Last year in July, the defence ministry approved the purchase of 26 Rafale (marine) jets from France, primarily for deployment on board the indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. France has already responded to India's initial tender for buying the jets, PTI reported.
The two countries are also expanding cooperation in the maritime domain including in the Indian Ocean Region. Notably, this is the sixth time a French leader will be the chief guest at Republic Day celebrations. Before Macron, former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac was the Chief guest on India's Republic Day celebrations in 1976 and 1998, as were former Presidents Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Francois Hollande in the years 1980, 2008 and 2016, respectively, as reported by news agency ANI.
Moreover, PM Modi was the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day Parade held on July 14, 2023, in Paris, the MEA stated. He had visited France at the invitation of French President Macron.