New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit France and the United States of America from February 10 to 13, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Friday.

During a special press briefing, Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary of the country, said, “I’ll just share a few pointers about these two very important visits that the Prime Minister will be undertaking next week. First, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting France from 10th to 12th February, 2025. This visit is on the occasion of the organisation of the Artificial Intelligence Summit, the AI Action Summit that France is organising. And the Prime Minister will co-chair this AI Action Summit alongside President Macron of France.

“In so far as the program in Paris is concerned, the Prime Minister will arrive in Paris in the evening of the 10th of February. He will, that evening, attend a dinner that is being hosted by President Macron at the Élysée Palace in honor of visiting Heads of Government and Heads of State. The dinner is also likely to be attended by a large number of CEOs from the tech domain and a number of other distinguished invitees to the summit. The following day, on the 11th of February, the Prime Minister will co-chair the AI Action Summit, along with President Macron,” Misri added.

After the AI summit, there will be a bilateral component to the visit. The Prime Minister and President Macron will address the India-France CEOs Forum, and they will also hold discussions in both the restricted and delegation level talks format. This visit will also take the Prime Minister out of Paris. Together with President Macron, he will travel to Marseille in the evening of the 11th of February. That evening, President Macron will host a dinner in honor of the Prime Minister. The following morning, on the 12th of February, the two leaders will together visit the Mazargues War Cemetery. This is a war cemetery that is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. And this will be an opportunity for both leaders to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers during the First World War.

The two leaders will also take this opportunity to jointly inaugurate the newest Consulate General of India in Marseille. As you are aware, there are a number of Indian nationals, people of Indian origin who live and work in the south of France in a number of cities across the region in Toulouse, in Nice, Marseille, in Grenoble, in Lyon. And the consulate will bring closer, the services that we provide to Indian citizens and persons of Indian origin.

And the final part of the program in France will be a visit that both leaders will undertake together to a place called Cadarache, which for those of you who follow atomic energy will know is the site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which is a project, a high science project in which India is a partner along with a few other countries.

“Moving on to the visit of the Prime Minister to the United States at the invitation of the President of the United States of America; Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will pay an official working visit to the United States on 12th and 13th of February. This will be the first visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United States since the inauguration of the second presidential term of President Donald Trump,” said the Foreign Secretary.

“You would be aware that Prime Minister would be amongst the first few world leaders to visit the United States following the inauguration of President Trump. And the fact that the Prime Minister has been invited to visit the U.S. within barely three weeks of the new administration taking office shows the importance of the India-U.S. partnership and is also reflective of the bipartisan support that this partnership enjoys in the United States. And the visit will be a valuable opportunity to engage the new administration on all areas of mutual interest,” Misri added.

In so far as the program elements are concerned, the Prime Minister will hold a bilateral meeting with President Trump in both the restricted and delegation level formats. Senior U.S. administration figures are expected to call on Prime Minister during the visit. And the Prime Minister will also have the opportunity to interact with business leaders and with members of the Indian community. DeshGujarat