Successful trip to France concluded, PM Modi departs for Germany

Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his successful visit of France on Sunday, departing for Germany for the second leg of his three-nation, nine-day tour.

Arriving in Paris on Friday, Prime Minister was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Elysee Palace, with the national anthems of both countries played before the French army accorded him the guard of honour.

Later, he travelled to the UNESCO headquarters at Place de Fontenoy in the city. He paid floral tributes at the bronze statue of spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo, before addressing the august gathering and lauding the initiatives taken by the organisation, adding that the programme to educate and support the girl child in India was the one which is closest to his heart.

In what was one of the most important deals inked during his visit of France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he had requested French President Francois Hollande for 36 Rafale jets in 'fly away' condition as quickly as possible, which has been seen as a huge boost to the ageing air fleet of the Indian Air Force.

The two leaders also released stamps to mark 50 years of Indo-French cooperation and held a meeting wherein they reviewed relations between the two countries and discussed matters pertaining to defence, nuclear, economics, cultural, educational and people to people ties.

During his visit, India and France also agreed that a Joint Working Group (JWG) on counter-terrorism will meet and formulate the modalities of greater cooperation on the matter, after agreeing to intensify their cooperation within the framework of JWG on counter-terrorism, including on information and intelligence sharing on terror networks and working together to share experiences on dealing with the growing phenomenon of radicalisation.

The Ministry of External Affairs described Prime Minister Modi's visit as yielding results on a wide variety of issues including defence understandings and the 'Make in India' initiative.

"On the nuclear front, India and France have agreed to transfer of technology from a French company to an Indian company which will enable the Indian company to have access to technology that has so far been denied to Indian companies. It will enable Indian companies now to strengthen the capabilities in manufacturing," he added.

Akbaruddin said that both sides have agreed to pursue French assistance for Prime Minister Modi's project on smart cities.

Prime Minister Modi had earlier made a strong pitch for a permanent seat for India in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

"India is known as the land of sacrifice and devotion. This country, which sacrifices so much for peace, is struggling to find a single seat in the United Nations Security Council. This is the opportunity to give the land of peace its right," he said at a community reception in Paris.

Prime Minister Modi also paid homage to Indian soldiers martyred during World War I at a memorial in Neuve Chapelle.

Prior to that, he visited a Prefecture in Toulouse, France. The Prime Minister also attended a presentation of Airbus' suppliers and interacted with representatives of some of the key local Airbus partners in the city.

Prime Minister Modi will be arriving in the German city of Hannover, where India is the partner country for the 2015 edition of the Hannover Messe business fair. He will later fly to Canada for the final leg of his three-nation, nine-day tour.