The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Marseille on February 12 after co-chairing the AI Action Summit held in Paris.
The new Indian consulate in Marseille in France was jointly inaugurated on that day by the pair of politicians as part of efforts to deepen economic and people-to-people ties.
A large number of members of the Indian community based in Marseille or nearby showed up in order to welcome the Indian Prime Minister as he and President Macron toured the area.
Indian Prime Minister visits France to strengthen ties and open Consulate in Marseille
The decision to open a Consulate General in Marseille was announced during the Prime Minister’s visit to France in July 2023. The Consulate General will have consular jurisdiction over four French administrative regions in the South of France, namely – Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, Corsica, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.
India and France are working to create a closer relationship between the port cities of Mumbai and Marseille as they strengthen trade and economic ties and this was one of the reasons behind the decision for the two leaders to meet in France’s second most populous city.
Indian Prime Minister and French President remember the Indian soldiers who fought on the French side in two World Wars
Modi and Macron visited the Mazargues War Cemetery in Marseille to pay tribute to 990 Indian soldiers killed during the First and Second World Wars and laid wreaths in honour of the fallen.
Macron noted in a separate post on X that more than 100,000 Indians fought for France in 1914 stating: “Ten thousand never returned. They set foot on the soil of Marseille before fighting in the mud of the trenches, unaware that they were marching to their deaths. Their sacrifice binds France and India forever.”
In what was a busy day, the pair also visited the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Cadarache, a first visit from any Heads of State and appropriate because India is among seven ITER members contributing to the project with some 200 Indian experts part of the force working on the reactor in different roles.
