Prime Minister Modi is in France for a two-day go to. The Prime Minister was obtained warmly by his French counterpart Elisabeth Borne. He then joined the ranks of greats like Nelson Mandela, King Charles, former Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and Boutros Boutros-Ghali amongst others when he was conferred with France’s highest civilian and navy honour, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.
Modi, on the day he arrived, addressed the Indian diaspora on the iconic La Seine Musicale. He was additionally hosted by President Emmanuel Macron and First Girl Brigitte Macron for dinner on the Elysee Palace for a personal dinner. On the dinner, Modi was introduced presents holding cultural and historic linkages.
PM Modi was given a facsimile of the {photograph} “A Parisian presenting flowers to a Sikh”, dated July 14, 1916. The picture reveals a French girl giving flowers to a Sikh officer from the Indian Expeditionary Drive (IEF) deployed in France. Indian troopers had fought alongside France throughout World Conflict I. On the time the image was taken, the Battle of the Somme, wherein the IEF have been preventing, had already begun. The {photograph} was taken by a reporter from the Meurisse information company on the Champs-Elysees in the course of the navy parade of July 14, 1916.
He was additionally introduced with the replica of the Charlemagne chessmen. The set represents the Indian origins of chess and the lengthy historical past of commerce between India and Europe. That is additionally a callback to PM Modi being a chess fanatic, who in 2010 attended the world file occasion for essentially the most video games of chess performed concurrently in a single location, in Ahmedabad. The “Charlemagne” chessmen are saved on the Cupboard des Medailles on the Nationwide Library of France.
Modi was additionally introduced with historic and famend works of French literature– Marcel Proust, Le temps retrouve (Time Regained), Pleiade and the english version of A la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Misplaced Time). A la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Misplaced Time) is a collection of novels by Marcel Proust printed between 1913 and 1927.