PM Modi visits National Centre for Space Studies in Toulouse

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) located here, where the two sides will examine further cooperation in the area of space.

CNES, established under President Charles de Gaulle in 1961, is the French government space agency with its headquarters located in central Paris. It is supervised by the French Ministries of Defence and Research.

CNES that operates out of the Toulouse Space Center and Guiana Space Centre also has payloads launched from space centres operated by other countries.

It was formerly responsible for the training of French astronauts, but the last active CNES astronauts transferred to the European Space Agency in 2001.

As of January 2015, CNES is working with Germany and a few other governments to start a modest research effort with the hope to propose a LOX/methane reusable launch vehicle by mid-2015.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to pay homage to thousands of Indian soldiers killed during World War-I at a memorial in the nearby French city of Lille.

On returning to Paris, Modi will attend a reception organized by the Indian community and also call on former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

A visit to a trade fair is also scheduled before he concludes his three-day visit to France and heads for Germany on the second leg of his three-nation nine-day foreign tour.

On Friday, Prime Minister Modi and French President Francois Hollande met at the Elysee Palace here and discussed issues of mutual interest. This was followed by delegation-level talks between India and France and the issue of a joint statement that listed the signing of over 17 agreements, including one for the direct purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly-away condition, and another for facilitating the early conclusion of techno-commercial talks on the Jaitapur nuclear power plant.

Both sides inked 17 agreements, including in the fields of civil nuclear energy, railways and space, and three Letters of Intent.

Modi also went on a boat ride on the Seine River with Hollande and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius after the talks.

He also addressed a meeting of the UNESCO and met with CEOs in two back-to-back sessions that focused on his pet 'Make in India' initiative.

At the UNESCO headquarters, he spoke of his government's commitment to ensure that every citizen, faith, culture and creed has an equal place in society.