Visit of Prime Minister Modi to France [fr]

Déclaration conjointe avec M. Narendra MODI... by elysee

Paris, 3 June 2017

Free translation
At the outset, I would like to thank Prime Minister Modi for his presence here in Paris for our working luncheon, our restricted meeting, and I thank his delegation for the very fruitful discussions we have had.

Prime Minister Modi is wrapping up his Europe trip and leaving, I think, very soon for India. We will shortly go together to Arc de Triomphe to rekindle the flame of the Unknown Soldier. This was the wish of Prime Minister Modi and I thank him for it, for this illustrates the historic ties between our two countries and enables me to salute India’s deep, steadfast commitment to being by our side, on the side of freedom, because numerous Indian soldiers laid down their lives for freedom, for our country in the beginning of the previous century. Indeed, it was of a strong alliance and robust relationship that we spoke from the very beginning of our meeting and which was the essential subject of our discussions.

First and foremost, our commitment to addressing climate change; here, I would like to reiterate that France is fully committed to the fight against global warming, that it will continue to be committed not only under the Paris Agreement but also in all the actions that it conducts. We were able to discuss this subject at length during the first part of our meeting and we both firmly believe that our two countries have much to do for the ecological and environmental transition, and fighting global warming.

Towards this end, I shall visit India before the end of this year so that we may together convene the first summit of the International Solar Alliance, which involves many countries and is a concrete, effective instrument in fighting global warming; it will enable both our countries to make concrete commitments on solar energy, and involve not only our companies and innovations in this context but also numerous other countries by our side. We shall also pursue our existing partnerships and intensify them for the development of renewable energy.

Thereafter, we had the opportunity to discuss the entire gamut of our strategic partnership together; our strategic dialogue will be held in Paris by the end of June. The Minister of Finance and Defence of India will be in Paris the very next week and, as I have mentioned, I shall myself travel to India by the end of the year, following a visit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the coming weeks.

Our partnership is also an industrial partnership that will continue being intensified in the area of civil nuclear energy, transport and trade; ours is an industrial and military partnership that has materialized with wonderful successes over the past few years – like the Rafale – and which we wish to pursue through several projects that we shall continue carrying out alongside you and that will help simultaneously make place for French excellence, technological cooperation and the “Make in India” Programme initiated by Prime Minister Modi.

This partnership is also that for combating terrorism. We have spoken at length on this absolutely crucial subject. We are involved in the fight against terrorism, which assumes different forms between our two countries, but there is a commonality of destiny and requirements. Thus, we shall be continuing our work in intelligence gathering, military and maritime security cooperation as well as combating the dissemination of terrorism on the internet. I have, in fact, raised this topic at the G7 summit, and, in the coming weeks, our teams will work on concrete initiatives that we can take by the end of this year.

I would like India to be able to assume its full place alongside us in combating all forms of terrorism, and know that France is at its side in combating the terrorism that it has been subjected to.

Lastly, we spoke of the necessity of intensifying our relations in the cultural, scientific and educational areas. A true dynamism has been set in motion between our two countries with regard to tourism development and, precisely, cultural initiatives. I would like for us to go farther; we must have more Indian students come study in France and more French students studying in India, who will be the coming generation that, beyond our cultures and particularities, will bear the responsibility of bringing alive our common interests. In the cultural field, I would also wish for us to intensify the relations between our respective literatures and film industries, which are enduring and are a power for our countries; our relations in these sectors must grow further.

France and India have a history, and they have common challenges. What our discussions today have shown is that we share much on these subjects – not only interests but also a common vision. I would like our two countries to be able to work together, in the coming months and years, for combating terrorism, for economic development, with our interests well included, and for the common fight against climate change, because this is our vocation, and this is our shared desire.

I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again for his visit, for these fruitful talks, and wish to reiterate here how strong our joint commitment to all these issues is, particularly climate change, which has been a subject of much discussion this week.

Mr Prime Minister.