Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Wednesday he spoke to "dear friend," French President Emmanuel Macron, thanking him for France's "prompt" assistance in India's fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
"Spoke to my dear friend @EmmanuelMacron. I thanked him for France's prompt assistance to India's Covid-19 response. We also discussed bilateral, regional and global issues, including cooperation in climate action and Indo-Pacific," PM Modi tweeted.
Further, in a press release, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said, "The leaders expressed satisfaction at the positive outcomes of the recently-concluded India-EU leaders' meeting. Both the leaders agreed that announcements regarding resumption of negotiations for balanced and comprehensive free trade and investment agreements, and India-EU connectivity partnerships were welcome steps."
"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," the release further said, adding that Prime Minister Modi "reiterated his invitation to President Macron to visit India as soon as conditions permit."
{{/usCountry}}"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," the release further said, adding that Prime Minister Modi "reiterated his invitation to President Macron to visit India as soon as conditions permit."
{{/usCountry}}France is among several countries which rushed relief material to India, as the country battled a devastating second wave of Covid-19 in April, recording well over 400,000 fresh infections and more than 4,000 related fatalities in a single-day, the highest anywhere since the pandemic began in the first half of 2020. In the last few days, the daily cases have come down, though these are still above the 200,000-mark, while the daily death toll continues to be near or more than 4,000. In the last 24 hours, India’s Covid-19 tally rose by 208,921 cases, while the death toll was up by 4,157, as per the Union health ministry’s data on Wednesday morning. The infection tally is at 27,157,795, including 311,388 deaths.