French President Emmanuel Macron Striving To Carve A New Political Path

You are my sunshine, India and France tell each other

- Rekha Dixit & Pradip R. Sagar

The winter smog has lifted and the sun is shining brightly over the country. An appropriate time to welcome in Emmanuel Macron, president of a country with whom India shares extremely warm ties. And, an even more appropriate time to host the first summit of the International Solar Alliance, a coming together of 121 solar-rich countries that India and France put together during the Paris Climate Summit in 2015.

The maiden visit of the young president and his wife, Brigitte, is a big occasion for India. Preparations for the visit have been in stark contrast to the recent visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during which India observed basic protocol and no personal flourish. Macron’s tour will have the stamp of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trademark hospitality, complete with a visit to his constituency, Varanasi, where the two will lunch together before visiting Assi Ghat on the banks of the Ganga. Modi and Macron will spend almost two working days together.

France and India have had robust ties. Paris stood staunchly by New Delhi after Pokhran II and helped India enter three nuclear clubs. The bilaterals encompass defence, business, counter-terrorism, technology and geopolitics. It helps that there are very few points of difference between the two countries. There are enough historical ties, but no baggage of diasporic vote banks; and there is no tension over controlled visa regimes.