Tag: Emmanuel Macron

  • After Heavy Defeat in EU Vote, French President Macron Announces Snap Parliamentary Elections on June 30 |

    New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the country’s parliament, as well as the National Assembly, calling for snap elections after exit polls showcased his party’s heavy loss in European parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to CNN. Preliminary estimates showed that the far-right National Rally (RN) party won 31.5 per cent of the vote, more than double the share of Macron’s Renaissance Party, which barely managed to secure second place with 15.2 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Socialists in third place with 14.3 per cent.

    The leader of the RN, Jordan Bardella, called on Macron to dissolve the French parliament in a celebratory speech following the release of the exit poll.

    “This unprecedented defeat for the current government marks the end of a cycle, and Day 1 of the post-Macron era,” Bardella said, according to CNN.

    Meanwhile, Macron announced in an hour-long national address that he will dissolve the lower house of parliament in France and organise parliamentary elections. According to Macron, there will be two rounds: the first on June 30 and the second on July 7.

    “I have decided to give you back the choice of your parliamentary future by voting. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly this evening,” Macron said in an announcement on Sunday.

    “This decision is serious, heavy. But it is, above all, an act of trust. Trust in you, my dear compatriots. In the capacity of the French people to make the most just decision,” the French President said.

    Parliamentary elections are used in the French system to choose the 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower house.

    The country’s president is chosen through separate elections that aren’t expected to take place again until 2027.

    The Ensemble coalition, which included Macron’s Renaissance party, was unable to secure an outright majority in the legislative elections held in 2022 and was obliged to look for outside assistance.

    The EU elections represent the world’s second-largest democratic exercise, trailing only behind India’s elections in terms of scale. With almost 400 million voters across the EU, the electorate will select 720 members of the European Parliament, spanning from the Arctic circle to the borders of Africa and Asia.

    The outcome of these elections will shape policies on global issues ranging from climate change and defence to migration and international relations with major players like China and the United States.

  • France Becomes First Country To Constitutionalise Women's Right To Abortion | world news

    France on Monday made history by becoming the first country in the world to guarantee abortion rights in its constitution, CNN reported. The initiative was endorsed by legislators from both houses of the French Parliament, with a majority of 780 to 72 in favour, achieving the required three-fifths threshold to amend the French constitution.

    Remarkably, after the US Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the Roe v. Wade verdict that acknowledged women's constitutional right to abortion, a movement was launched in France to explicitly safeguard the right in its fundamental law. The final phase of the parliamentary process was the voting on Monday, which occurred at the Palace of Versailles, southwest of Paris, during a special gathering of lawmakers. The bill was passed with a large majority earlier this year by the French National Assembly and Senate.

    According to the amendment, abortion is a “guaranteed freedom” in France. Legislators and certain groups had pushed for tougher wording that would clearly designate abortion as a “right.” Hailed by lawmakers as a historic step, the measure demonstrated France's unwavering support for reproductive rights at a time when abortion rights are under attack in the US and in regions of Europe like Hungary where far-right parties are gaining ground, according to CNN. “My body, my choice” was illuminated on the Eiffel Tower after the results of the vote. Before the vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stated that MPs owed women who had previously been forced to undergo illegal abortions a “moral debt.”

    “Above all, we're sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you,” Attal said. French President Emmanuel Macron said the government would hold a formal ceremony celebrating the amendment's passage on Friday, International Women's Rights Day, CNN reported.

    France first legalized abortion in 1975, after a campaign led by then-Health Minister Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who became one of the country's most famous feminist icons.

    According to CNN, while abortion is a highly divisive issue in US politics that often falls along party lines, in France it is widely supported. Many of the lawmakers who voted against the amendment did so not because they opposed abortion, but because they felt the measure was unnecessary, given the wide support for reproductive rights.

  • Emmanuel Macron, Chief Guest Of 75th Republic Day Celebrations, Spends Time In India | Culture News

    French President Emmanuel Macron is the chief guest at the 75th Republic Day celebrations that is taking place in all its glory today, January 26, 2024. A day earlier the French President arrived in India but his first stop was the Pink City of Jaipur in Rajasthan. . Later at night, he arrived in the capital Delhi, where the grand Republic Day parade takes place. Macron’s visit marks a unique reciprocal exchange following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France on its National Day in July 2023.

    According to sources, in Delhi, the French President is staying at the luxury hotel ITC Maurya. He is reportedly staying on the Grand Presidential Floor of the hotel, where US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump have also stayed in the past. According to hotel sources, French President Macron is extremely warm and has a friendly demeanour. Even though he arrived at the hotel late at night, he warmly greeted the hotel staff and was all smiles.


    The hotel, where Macron is staying, was all lit up in tricolours ahead of India’s 75th Republic Day.

    When it comes to his diet, the hotel said the French President prefers to keep his breakfast very light and is especially fond of the fruit platter. You can catch a glimpse of the President’s favorite breakfast platter below.


    Earlier in the day, Macron called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a dear friend, Macron took to !”

    This is the sixth time (the highest for any country) that a French leader is participating in India’s biggest ceremonial event. This tradition began with President Jacques Chirac in 1976, followed by Valery Giscard d’Estaing in 1980, Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008, and Francois Hollande in 2016. PM Modi and President Macron have engaged in a series of high-profile meetings throughout 2023, underscoring the strength and depth of the bilateral relationship. Their interactions have spanned various global platforms, including the COP 28 Summit in Dubai, the G20 Leaders’ Summit, and the G7 Summit in Hiroshima. Notably, President Macron was also the Guest of Honor at the Bastille Day Celebrations in France in July 2023.

  • Bastille Day welcome for Modi as France courts India

    By AFP

    President Emmanuel Macron’s red carpet welcome comes weeks after Modi was given the rare honour of a White House state dinner in Washington — a city he was once banned from visiting.

    That visit saw deals on arms sales, semiconductor investment and space cooperation, breezing past human rights concerns over India’s Hindu nationalist government and accusations of rising religious intolerance towards the country’s Muslim minority.

    Further strategic and economic tie-ups are expected in Paris, which is seeking to broaden its engagement in Asia alongside other Western nations to check growing Chinese assertiveness in the region.

    Modi’s visit alongside Indian troops joining the annual Bastille Day military parade marks “a new phase in the strategic partnership between France and India”, Macron’s Elysee Palace office said in June.

    Both countries have “a shared vision of peace and security, especially in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific region”, the statement added, using a term used by the US and its allies for the Asia-Pacific region.

    Modi, who greeted the French leader with his customary bearhug during the latter’s first state visit to India in 2018, said on Twitter last week that he was “looking forward to meeting with my friend President Macron”.

    “The India-France Strategic Partnership holds great significance for global good,” he added.

    India is already a customer for French arms, including Dassault’s Rafale fighter jets, as it seeks to modernise its forces to match potential future threats from its northern neighbour.

    The urgency of New Delhi’s task has been heightened by simmering disputes with Beijing over the countries’ immense Himalayan frontier, the site of a 2020 clash that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese troops, and sent relations between both capitals into free fall.

    Balancing Game

    India once faced crushing poverty, but its middle classes have swelled in recent decades on the back of a rapidly growing economy, which last year overtook former colonial ruler Britain to become the fifth-largest globally.

    In April, the country welcomed its first retail stores from Apple, eager to tap a burgeoning market for upscale consumer goods in what is now the world’s most populous nation.

    The US tech giant is also ramping up semiconductor and phone production in India to militate against the threat of politically driven supply chain disruptions in China.

    India’s rising economic clout has dovetailed with diplomatic assertiveness as its leaders relish the country’s newfound prominence on the global stage.

    This year, India is hosting the G20 summit for the first time and Modi has used the meeting to burnish his image at home as a steward of national power and prosperity.

    Modi has struck a fine balance between historic ally Moscow and its new Western suitors, declining to criticise last year’s invasion of Ukraine while India snaps up discounted Russian oil.

    At the same time, his government has been enthusiastically welcomed into closer security cooperation with the West through the Quad alliance, a grouping that also includes the United States, Australia and Japan, and is seen as another countervailing force to China.

    Modi attended a cricket match at a stadium bearing his name in March with visiting Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, who likened the charismatic Indian leader to rock musician Bruce Springsteen at a rousing Sydney reception two months later.

    “It is to do with containing China,” said Manoj Joshi, a New Delhi-based author and geopolitical commentator.

    “China is becoming a difficult market… and in terms of size and strength of its economy, India is a very good fit”.

    Rights Concern

    But last month’s enthusiastic welcome to Washington from US President Joe Biden saw minor ructions when several lawmakers boycotted Modi’s joint address to Congress, citing his human rights record.

    Rights groups say India’s 200 million Muslims have faced increased discrimination and violence since India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014.

    Modi himself was once subject to a US State Department travel ban over 2002 religious riots during his tenure as chief minister of western Gujarat state that killed around 1,000 people, mostly Muslims.

    He has denied any responsibility for the violence and subsequent government probes have cleared him of culpability.

    His government has also been accused of stifling independent media, with India falling 21 places to 161 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index since he took office.

    Indian offices of the BBC were raided by the tax department in February, weeks after the British broadcaster was hit with a barrage of government criticism for airing a documentary questioning Modi’s role in the Gujarat riots.

    The ruling party denied the raids were politically motivated, while diplomats in London and Washington demurred from criticising them.

    President Emmanuel Macron’s red carpet welcome comes weeks after Modi was given the rare honour of a White House state dinner in Washington — a city he was once banned from visiting.

    That visit saw deals on arms sales, semiconductor investment and space cooperation, breezing past human rights concerns over India’s Hindu nationalist government and accusations of rising religious intolerance towards the country’s Muslim minority.

    Further strategic and economic tie-ups are expected in Paris, which is seeking to broaden its engagement in Asia alongside other Western nations to check growing Chinese assertiveness in the region.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    Modi’s visit alongside Indian troops joining the annual Bastille Day military parade marks “a new phase in the strategic partnership between France and India”, Macron’s Elysee Palace office said in June.

    Both countries have “a shared vision of peace and security, especially in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific region”, the statement added, using a term used by the US and its allies for the Asia-Pacific region.

    Modi, who greeted the French leader with his customary bearhug during the latter’s first state visit to India in 2018, said on Twitter last week that he was “looking forward to meeting with my friend President Macron”.

    “The India-France Strategic Partnership holds great significance for global good,” he added.

    India is already a customer for French arms, including Dassault’s Rafale fighter jets, as it seeks to modernise its forces to match potential future threats from its northern neighbour.

    The urgency of New Delhi’s task has been heightened by simmering disputes with Beijing over the countries’ immense Himalayan frontier, the site of a 2020 clash that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese troops, and sent relations between both capitals into free fall.

    Balancing Game

    India once faced crushing poverty, but its middle classes have swelled in recent decades on the back of a rapidly growing economy, which last year overtook former colonial ruler Britain to become the fifth-largest globally.

    In April, the country welcomed its first retail stores from Apple, eager to tap a burgeoning market for upscale consumer goods in what is now the world’s most populous nation.

    The US tech giant is also ramping up semiconductor and phone production in India to militate against the threat of politically driven supply chain disruptions in China.

    India’s rising economic clout has dovetailed with diplomatic assertiveness as its leaders relish the country’s newfound prominence on the global stage.

    This year, India is hosting the G20 summit for the first time and Modi has used the meeting to burnish his image at home as a steward of national power and prosperity.

    Modi has struck a fine balance between historic ally Moscow and its new Western suitors, declining to criticise last year’s invasion of Ukraine while India snaps up discounted Russian oil.

    At the same time, his government has been enthusiastically welcomed into closer security cooperation with the West through the Quad alliance, a grouping that also includes the United States, Australia and Japan, and is seen as another countervailing force to China.

    Modi attended a cricket match at a stadium bearing his name in March with visiting Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, who likened the charismatic Indian leader to rock musician Bruce Springsteen at a rousing Sydney reception two months later.

    “It is to do with containing China,” said Manoj Joshi, a New Delhi-based author and geopolitical commentator.

    “China is becoming a difficult market… and in terms of size and strength of its economy, India is a very good fit”.

    Rights Concern

    But last month’s enthusiastic welcome to Washington from US President Joe Biden saw minor ructions when several lawmakers boycotted Modi’s joint address to Congress, citing his human rights record.

    Rights groups say India’s 200 million Muslims have faced increased discrimination and violence since India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014.

    Modi himself was once subject to a US State Department travel ban over 2002 religious riots during his tenure as chief minister of western Gujarat state that killed around 1,000 people, mostly Muslims.

    He has denied any responsibility for the violence and subsequent government probes have cleared him of culpability.

    His government has also been accused of stifling independent media, with India falling 21 places to 161 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index since he took office.

    Indian offices of the BBC were raided by the tax department in February, weeks after the British broadcaster was hit with a barrage of government criticism for airing a documentary questioning Modi’s role in the Gujarat riots.

    The ruling party denied the raids were politically motivated, while diplomats in London and Washington demurred from criticising them.

  • PM Narendra Modi and France President Emmanuel Macron to discuss host of key issues

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: In their talks on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron are likely to discuss mitigating the global economic consequences of the Ukraine conflict as well as ways to ensure cessation of hostilities in that country, diplomatic sources said.

    Modi, currently on a visit to Denmark, will have a brief stopover in Paris on his return journey where he will hold extensive talks with President Macron, who was re-elected to the top post over a week back.

    The sources said discussions will also focus how France can continue to be India’s “partner of choice” in its quest for becoming self-reliant in the field of defence manufacturing.

    The talks will also explore ways to boost cooperation in areas of technology, space and energy, they said.

    The two leaders will discuss how to ensure cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and mitigate the global economic consequences of this conflict, the sources said.

    They said another focus area of the talks would be to unitedly deal with the challenges in the Indo-Pacific.

    Modi and Macron are expected to explore ways to speeding up “positive agenda of solutions” in the region, the sources said.

    “The fact that this visit takes place so soon after President Macron’s re-election is seen as an exceptional gesture of trust and friendship,” said a diplomatic source.

    The sources said Modi’s meeting with Macron days after his election victory is highly symbolic.

    It sends a powerful signal that the two leaders want to make the Indo-French partnership a guiding principle of their foreign policy for the years to come, the sources said.

    “It’s also a demonstration of the level of personal chemistry between the two leaders, which gives impetus to our joint actions across all fields of cooperation,” the source said.

  • PM Modi, Emmanuel Macron discuss Afghan situation, flag concerns over possible spread of terrorism

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday discussed the recent developments in Afghanistan and shared their concerns about possible spread of terrorism, narcotics, illicit weapons and human trafficking.

    During their telephonic conversation, the two leaders reviewed the increasing bilateral collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region, and the important role that the India-France partnership plays in promoting stability and security in the region, a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office here said.

    President Macron and Prime Minister Modi agreed to act jointly and with Europe in the Indo-Pacific, to keep the region stable, rules-based and free of any hegemony, French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain said on Twitter.

    Spoke with my friend President @EmmanuelMacron on the situation in Afghanistan. We also discussed closer collaboration between India and France in the Indo-Pacific. We place great value on our Strategic Partnership with France, including in the UNSC.
    — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 21, 2021
    After his conversation with Macron, Modi tweeted, “Spoke with my friend President @EmmanuelMacron on the situation in Afghanistan. We also discussed closer collaboration between India and France in the Indo-Pacific.”

    “We place great value on our strategic partnership with France, including in the UNSC,” Modi said.

    The PMO said the two leaders discussed regional issues, including recent developments in Afghanistan.

    “In this context, they shared their concerns about possible spread of terrorism, narcotics, illicit weapons and human trafficking, as well as the need to ensure human rights, rights of women and minorities,” the statement said.

    The leaders agreed to maintain close and regular consultations, in the spirit of the India-France Strategic Partnership, which both countries cherish deeply, it said.

  • PM Narendra Modi, France President Emmanuel Macron discuss positive outcomes of India-EU Leaders’ meet

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke over phone on Wednesday and discussed the positive outcomes of the recently concluded India-EU Leaders’ Meeting.

    India and the European Union (EU) had on May 8 announced their decision to resume negotiations for a balanced and comprehensive trade agreement after a gap of eight years and unveiled an ambitious connectivity partnership, during a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Modi and leaders of 27 member nations of the bloc.

    During their telephonic conversation, the prime minister and the French president agreed that the announcements regarding resumption of negotiations for balanced and comprehensive free trade and investment agreements, and India-EU Connectivity Partnership were welcome steps, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.

    Modi thanked Macron for the assistance rendered by France to India’s Covid response, it said.

    The leaders discussed bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest, and expressed their satisfaction at the positive outcomes of the recently concluded India-EU Leaders’ Meeting, the PMO said.

    The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the depth and strength that the India-France Strategic Partnership has acquired in recent years and agreed to continue working closely together in the post-Covid era.

    Prime Minister Modi also reiterated his invitation to President Macron to visit India as soon as conditions permit, the statement said.

    The India-EU meeting, participated by leaders of EU member states as well as the top leadership of the EU, had also decided to launch negotiations on two other key agreements on investment protection and geographical indications.

    The negotiations for the ambitious free trade agreement, launched in 2007, were suspended in 2013 amidst difference on crucial issues, including tariff rules and market access.

    During that meeting earlier this month, Modi had also invited the EU to support a proposal by India and South Africa to waive patents on COVID-19 vaccines so that there can be equitable vaccine access for the entire world.

    PTI ASK ANB ANB 05262202 NNNN

  • France backed India on Kashmir, didn’t allow China to play procedural games at UNSC: Macron advisor

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: France has been supportive of India on Kashmir and has not allowed China to play any “procedural games” at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), an advisor to the French president said on Thursday.

    On a visit to India for the annual strategic dialogue between France and India, Emmanuel Bonne, the diplomatic advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, said, “When China breaks the rules, we have to be very robust and very clear and this is the sense of our naval presence in the Indian Ocean.”

    Delivering a talk on “France and India: Partners for a Stable and Prosperous Indo-Pacific”, organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), Bonne also said France is close to the QUAD — the grouping of US, Japan, Australia and India — and may hold some naval exercises with them in future.

    Noting that the French Navy is the only European Navy which patrols the Taiwan strait, he said it was not as a provocation but a way to assert the necessity to abide by international law.

    “Let us not go for confrontation and I understand that it’s much easier to say this from Paris than from Delhi when you almost have a problem in the Himalayas and when you have Pakistan at your border,” Bonne said.

    “On direct threats to India, we have always been very clear. Whether it be on Kashmir, we have been very supportive of India in the Security Council, we have not let the Chinese play any kind of procedural games. When it comes to the Himalayas, just check our statements, we are perfectly clear. What we say publicly, we say to the Chinese also privately, there is no ambiguity,” he said.

    Talking about his conversation with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at the Strategic Dialogue earlier in the day, he said the discussion was about strategic opportunities as well as the bilateral defence and security relationship.

    He said military cooperation and the Indian Ocean were also part of the conversation.

    “In particular we are sharing information, we are maneuvering together our navies, our air and space commandments are coordinating. We are building capacities and cooperating. When it comes to the Indian Ocean, we are working on maritime surveillance,” he said.

    Bonne will also call on other Indian dignitaries during his visit.

    The last edition of the strategic dialogue was held in February 2020 in Paris.

  • PM post aspirants must not blend ignorance, falsehood: Arun Jaitley blasts Rahul Gandhi

    Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s speech during the Lok Sabha debate on the Opposition’s no-confidence motion was “embarrassing” and “ignorant”, Union minister Arun Jaitley has said.

    “If a participant happens to be a President of a national political party nourishing Prime Ministerial aspirations, every word he speaks should be precious. His facts should convey credibility. Facts are always sacrosanct. None should ever trivialise the debate. Those who desire to be Prime Minister never blend ignorance, falsehood and acrobatics,” said Jaitley in a Facebook post on Saturday, commenting on Gandhi’s allegations against the Narendra Modi government.

    “Regrettably, the President of the Congress Party missed a great opportunity. If this was his best argument for 2019, God help his party,” said Jaitley. “To hallucinate after an embarrassing performance that he has won future election or to hallucinate that he is the reincarnation of Mark Antony being complemented by friends and foes alike, may give him self-satisfaction but for serious observers it is more than just self-praise – in fact a serious problem.”

    He said Gandhi’s allegations about India’s deal with France to buy Rafale fighter planes showed that he was “ignorant of facts”. Alleging corruption in the deal to purchase the planes, Gandhi had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi took away the contract to manufacture the planes from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and gave it to “one of his businessmen friends”.

    Gandhi claimed that defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the government would reveal the price of the deal for purchase of Rafale, but later refused on the grounds that there was a secrecy agreement between India and France.

    Jaitley rejected the allegations and accused Gandhi of “concocting” a conversation with France’s president Emmanuel Macron. He said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had entered a secrecy pact with France about the Rafale deal, but Gandhi was “wholly unaware” of it.

    “…to insist on disclosure of financial details, which indirectly involves the disclosures of the strategic equipment on the aircraft, is to hurt national interest. Cost gives away a clue to the weaponry in the aircraft,” said Jaitley.