PM Narendra Modi to receive French President Francois Hollande in Chandigarh

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive French President Francois Hollande at Chandigarh airport when he touches down on Indian soil on January 24 ahead of the Republic Day for which he will be the chief guest at the main parade on Rajpath.

Hollande will get a special tour of Chandigarh, designed by French architect Le Corbusier. He will visit the the city's famous Rock Garden and meet a collection of business people. He will reach delhi on January 25 and spend the day in bilateral engagements, including signing of agreements. Hollande will leave on January 26 night after witnessing the parade.

Chandigarh is important for France in more ways than purely historic.

France will be upgrading the railway connection between Chandigarh and Delhi by the famous TGV which operates France's bullet train network.

Prime Minister Modi is very conscious of making every visiting dignitary feel special. Barack Obama became the first US president to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade last year. He was also the first foreign dignitary to do the radio talk 'Mann Ki Baat' with the PM.

Hollande will be the third French President since 1998 to get the honour after Francois Mitterand and Nicholas Sarkozy. Hollande is scheduled to give a speech in Chandigarh, a first.

Modi gave his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe the Ganga Aarti treatment in Varanasi, a gesture that probably did more for tourism in Varanasi than anything else.

Chinese President Xi Jinping got a stand-alone reception in Ahmedabad, complete with a 'walk by the river' and Gujarati cuisine. It was another matter that the visit was shadowed by incursion by Chinese troops in Ladakh.