Hollande will be the fifth French leader to be the Chief Guest at Republic Day, a rare honour given by India to any country.
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From fresh flower beds to a fresh coat of paint on everything, including tree trunks, and bamboo chiks to cover up slums, the administration is pulling out all stops for the French President. He will also meet British business leaders to ask them to voice their support for his push to change Britain’s relationship with the European Union, which he says will benefit their companies.
The president also announced a visit to Egypt, Jordan and Oman, without giving a date, saying: “We must do everything to work together for stability in the region”.
The event will be attended by senior ministers apart from delegates from India and France.
Bengaluru police has said that the French consulate in the city has received a letter allegedly from terror outfit ISIS.
Although no official confirmation has been received, President Hollande is likely to visit the Capitol Complex, Rock Garden and the Sector-10 museum. Later, he will visit Rajghat to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.
The same day he will have talks with Modi, both in restricted format and at the delegation level.
UN-brokered Syrian peace talks are tentatively set for next Monday in Geneva, despite disagreements over who will represent the opposition.
Modi and Hollande will also jointly lay the foundation of Interim Secretariat of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Gurgaon on January 25. Even the walls of private houses, palatial bungalows, government and other buildings, which face the roads that President Hollande’s entourage will take, have been given a fresh coat of the colour.
But in view of the “critical operational necessity for Multirole Combat Aircraft” for the IAF, prime minister, during his visit to Paris in April a year ago, conveyed to French president that India would like to acquire 36 Rafale jets “in fly-away condition as quickly as possible” under an inter-governmental agreement to be negotiated by the two nations.
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President Hollande will see a spruced-up city, with the Chandigarh administration going into an overdrive since the past 10 days to present the city’s best. French nuclear giant Areva SA and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India agreed in 2010 to build the 9,900-megawatt facility, but progress has been slow amid disputes over land rights and Indian laws on accident liability.
