Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Paris, France early in the morning on Thursday, and received a warm welcome from the Indian diaspora there. Crowds gathered and cheered for the prime minister on his way back from attending the G7 summit in the French commune of Evian-les-Baines as a guest nation.
“I arrived in Paris just a short while ago, where I was warmly welcomed by the Indian diaspora. I am proud of their efforts to bring India and France closer together. The India-France partnership is essential to the progress of our planet,” the prime minister wrote on his social media handle.
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A warm reception
Photographs and videos capturing the moments of Modi’s interaction with the Indian community in Paris showed ecstatic crowds in the audience. The Prime Minister initially landed in Nice on June 13 and June 14 for a bilateral meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron, followed by a first-of-its-kind visit to Slovakia and two days at the G7 summit, as per the official website of the Ministry of External Affairs.
He has now returned to Paris and is also expected to visit Evian before flying out on June 18. During his bilateral meeting, the prime minister jointly inaugurated the ‘Bharat Innovates 2026’ event at the Palais des Expositions in Nice.
The three-day event expected to bring together “Indian deep-tech start-ups, innovators, researchers and investors with global innovation funds and footprint” and showcase India’s premier deep technology at the global stage, presenting 120 pathbreaking start-ups and over 20 Institutes of Excellence, across 13 critical technology pillars of global importance”.
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Indian communities in Paris frantically reacted to the success of the event and deepening Indo-French ties. “I am a scientist and I feel very proud that ‘Bharat Innovates 2026’ was jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron,” an Indian onlooker told news agency ANI.
Pratik, a member of the BAPS Swaminarayan temple was also elated. “I am associated with the BAPS Swaminarayan temple which is going to be opened in September this year, first Hindu temple in Paris…We have invited Modi ji as well, we have invited the people of entire India as well,” he revealed.
Indo-French ties
During their meeting, Modi as well as Macron spoke about the need for deepening ties between the two countries for better progress. The ongoing celebrations in favour of the India-France Year of Celebration added the ‘Bharat Innovates 2026’ event as the latest in a string of mutual milestones between the two countries’ bond.
The Indo-French relationship was boosted to the level of a Special Global Strategic Partnership earlier this year.
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This cooperation was further aided by Prime Minister Modi’s attendance at the G7 summit, on the invitation of President Macron where world leaders gathered for heavy-weight discussions on topics like governance, artificial intelligence, drug trafficking and cooperation with the Global South.
These leaders included U.S. President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
