Addressing the diaspora at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, he said India's diaspora has played an important role in France's development and society.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on Friday addressed the Indian diaspora in France and inaugurated a memorial in Nid D'Aigle dedicated to the victims of two Air India crashes in the country's airspace during the years 1950 and 1966.
Air India flight 245 crashed in Mont Blanc on 3 November 1950 killing 48 people, while 16 years later, almost exactly at the same spot the Air India Flight 101 crashed, killing 117 passengers.
The Prime Minister also paid tribute to Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and the man who was referred to as the "father of the Indian nuclear programme". He had died in the crash of AI 101.
Addressing the diaspora at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, he said India's diaspora has played an important role in France's development and society.
PM Modi said, "Bharat se apka mitti ka rishta, aur France ke saath mehnat ka" (You have kith and kin ties with India, but your hard work is your connect with France)
Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with great fervour in Paris and is part of the city's cultural calendar.
Talking about his government's achievement, he said, "In the last few years more and more Indians have been able to open bank accounts" and "Today's India is corruption-free and dynasty free."
Speaking on the abrogation of Article 370, PM said, "It took you 70 years to remove what is temporary."
Hailing Indo-France ties, he said " IN+FRA or India France Infra -- from space to defence, India France alliance is growing leaps and bounds."
On Thursday he had held a 90-minute bilateral talk with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, in which defence, space, and climate change were the main focus. This was his fifth meeting with the French President. He will later participate in 45th G7 summit in Biarritz on 25th and 26th August.
PM Modi visited France in 2017 followed by the visit of the French President in 2018 and then subsequent meetings on the sidelines of G20 summit in Argentina and Japan on December 2018 and June 2019, respectively.
It is after a gap of more than 10 years that India has been invited to the G7 summit, the last time being in 2005 when the then British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, had invited the former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Gleneagles summit.
India is the "Biarritz partner" country along with Australia, Chile, South Africa, Rwanda, Senegal, Egypt and Burkina Faso. Climate, biodiversity will be the main focus of the 45th G7 summit, whose theme is "combating inequality".
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