HOLLANDE’S VISIT Top companies sign agreements in Chandigarh, including Airbus-Mahindra deal to manufacture helicopters under Make in India initiative
CHANDIGARH: India and France pledged on Sunday to step up cooperation for fighting terrorism against the backdrop of deadly attacks on both countries in recent months, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Francois Hollande shared concerns over the global menace.
SANJEEV SHARMA/HTFrench President Francois Hollande with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh on Sunday.Indian and French companies signed 16 pacts, including an agreement between Airbus Group and Mahindra for manufacture of military helicopters and three MoUs under the “Smart City” theme, after the French President touched down in Chandigarh, a city designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier.
Hollande, who will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in the Capital, said one of the main agendas of his three-day visit was to foster ties between Paris and New Delhi to tackle terrorism.
His comments came on the heels of a series of coordinated attacks in Paris last year claimed by the Islamic State, as well as a deadly terror strike at Punjab’s Pathankot airbase by Pakistani militants this month.
“I will talk about two (things): first, security, because we are affected by regional crisis and also terrorism. Both countries have been hit,” he said at a business summit in Chandigarh. “So, together we will increase our exchanges, cooperation between services and act to reinforce our military equipment. It is part of the agenda for this trip,” he added. “Following the success of the 2015 Paris climate conference in December, we are going to translate our common drive to implement as fast as possible the Paris agreement in launching here the solar alliance.”
Modi said he had invited Hollande as a show of solidarity after last year’s shootings and bombings by Islamic terrorists in Paris that killed 130 and evoked memories of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks of 2008.
“The day Paris was hit by terror, I decided that our Republic Day parade guest must be France as our people are united against the enemies of humanity,” the PM said in his speech, while he also lauded France’s decision to invest $1 billion every year in India in various sectors and underscored the country’s “business-friendly” profile.