NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that he was ‘looking forward to meeting his friend’ US President Donald Trump, recalling them working together during his first term.
“I look forward to meeting my friend, President Trump. Although this will be our first meeting following his historic electoral victory and inauguration in January. I have a very warm recollection of working together in his first term in building a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership between India and the US,” PM Modi said in a departure statement.
“We will work together for the mutual benefit of the people of our two countries and shape a better future for the world,” he added.
Announcing his official working visit, foreign secretary Vikram Misri had earlier said that PM Modi would be among the first world leaders to visit US in the first few weeks of the second Trump administration, in a sign of the bipartisan US support for the partnership with India.
The prime minister will have restricted and delegation-level talks with Trump and interact with business leaders, as well as the Indian community, on February 13.
PM Modi is travelling to France, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron, to attend an AI Summit on February 10 and 11, followed by a bilateral meeting with him.
“In France, I will be taking part in the AI Action Summit, where India is the co-chair. I will be holding talks with President Emmanuel Macron towards strengthening India-France relations. We will also be going to Marseille to inaugurate a Consulate there,” PM Modi wrote on X.
“The bilateral segment of my visit will provide an opportunity to review the progress on the 2047 Horizon Roadmap for India-France strategic partnership along with my friend President Macron,” the statement read.
PM Modi will also visit the historic French city of Marseille to inaugurate India’s first Consulate in France and tour the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, where India is part of a global consortium, including France, working to harness sustainable energy.
Later, the prime minister will pay tribute to Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives in World Wars I and II at the Mazargues War Cemetery.