French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Amber Fort, Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal on Thursday before attending the Republic Day 2024 parade on January 26. The French President will land in Jaipur on January 25 and start his busy day from Amber Fort. He will go to the fortress, where a cultural event for President Macron is planned.
Afterwards, Macron will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Jantar Mantar, a world heritage site. PM Modi and President Macron will then take part in a joint road show from Jantar Mantar to Sanganeri Gate with a stopover at Hawa Mahal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also host a private dinner for Macron at Rambagh Palace. While no structured dialogue or joint press interaction is planned between the two sides, a joint statement will be issued at the end of the first day.
PM Modi will roll out the red carpet for him from Jaipur to Delhi. President Macron will witness the Republic Day parade at Kartavya trail on January 26 as the chief guest. A contingent of the French army is also scheduled to participate in the Republic Day parade.
After witnessing the pageantry at the R-Day parade, Macron will interact with French embassy staff. Later, he will attend an ‘At Home’ reception hosted by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, followed by an official banquet dinner.
Macron is the fifth French president to be the chief guest on India’s Republic Day after Presidents François Hollande (2016), Nicolas Sarkozy (2008), Jacques Chirac (1998), Valery Giscard d’Estaing (1980) and Jacques Chirac as Prime Minister (1976) ).
Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is the second Indian Prime Minister to be the guest of honor at France’s Bastille Day. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the guest of honor at the Bastille Day parade in 2009. Prime Minister Modi attended the parade last July 2023.
In addition, both sides are likely to make major announcements in defense and strategic sectors. Earlier, there were reports that US President Joe Biden might be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in India. However, according to US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, Biden declined the invitation to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.
