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Indian Prime Minister Modi to visit France mid-April

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to visit France on 9-12 April as part of a tour that will also take him to Germany and Canada, officials in Delhi announced on Wednesday. The much-postponed sale of Rafale jet fighters to India is expected to be discussed in Paris.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Reuters/Stringer
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Modi will meet President François Hollande during a visit that will begin on the evening of 9 April. 

"He will interact with different sections of French society as well as leadership there," Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters in Delhi on Wednesday. 

He will then go on to Germany, where he will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel and open the biggest trade fair in the world, Hannover Messe

The trip, which will also take Modi to Canada, home to more than a million people of Indian origin, is part of the PM's Make in India initiative, which aims to attract foreign investors to the country.

 Discussions are expected to be held on the long-drawn-out negotiations of the sale of Rafale jet fighters by French company Dassault to India's air force. 

Civil nuclear power could also be raised, in the light of French nuclear giant Areva's 2009 offer to supply to EPR reactors with a possible follow-up building capacity to 10,000 megawatts. 

Dassault Aviation and Thales handed two modernised Mirage 2000 fighters over to Indian officials at a ceremony in the south of France attended by Indian ambassador Arun K Singh. 

A further 49 fighters will be revamped in India as part of a contract worth 1.4 billion euros, according to a document quoted by La Tribune newspaper. 

"Rafale is the next logical step," Dassault CEO Eric Trappier declared.

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