Business, technology high on PM's agenda during 3-nation tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave tomorrow on a nine-day tour of France, Germany and Canada with focus on inviting investments, particularly in infrastructure and defence sectors, besides cooperation in nuclear and a variety of other areas.
In the first leg of the tour, Modi will travel to France where economy, defence and energy will be high on the agenda of his talks with President Francois Hollande.
He will also have two back-to-back meetings with French business leaders, one focussing on cooperation in infrastructure and another on defence technology, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told reporters here while briefing on the visit.

The government here has given top priority to infrastructure development and French companies have lot of expertise in this area, he said.
Similarly, French companies have capabilities and experience in the field of defence.
India is hoping that French companies will participate in the 'Make in India' programme initiated by Modi.

A highlight of the four-day stay in France will be a boat ride by Modi and Hollande, which is being described as 'naav pe charcha' (discussions on a boat). Earlier, Modi has earlier had 'chai pe charcha' (discussions over tea) with foreign leaders, including President Barack Obama during his visit here in January.

In France, the Prime Minister will also visit the World War-I memorial and pay tributes to about 10,000 Indians who lost their lives while fighting alongside France.
He will also visit UNESCO headquarters, Airbus facility and French space agency office.