Welcome Francois Hollande
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive French President François Hollande at the Chandigarh airport on January 24.
Rock Garden – Chandigarh
French President François Hollande will be the guest of honour in New Delhi for the 2016 Indian Republic Day celebrated on January 26 every year and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will welcome Francois Hollande at the Chandigarh airport on January 24.
Before leaving for Delhi, Hollande will take an exclusive tour of Chandigarh city, where he will visit the Rock Garden, commercial business center and meet some people. Chandigarh was designed by the French architect Le Corbusier and after planning the city, France will now also be contributing towards the advancement of the rail network between Chandigarh and Delhi through TGV, which is a high speed train operating in France.
After the city tour, Hollande will arrive in Delhi on January 25 for the 67th Republic Day parade at Rajpath, after which he will leave for France on the night of January 26.
During Hollande’s visit in the country, the contract for 36 twin-engine fighters could also be signed. In April 2015, India decided to buy 36 Rafales for the Indian Air Force from France. After negotiations for nearly seven months over issues such as price and the offsets, the two sides have reached an agreement. It is believed that France has now agreed to invest 50 pc of the deal value in ‘Make In India’ projects and the delivery of the twin-engine fighters will finally begin after two years. All the 36 fighter engines are expected to be delivered within seven years.
