With just three days left for French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the City Beautiful, the preparations are in full swing to welcome the VVIP guests in the city.
Hollande had expressed his desire to visit Chandigarh which was designed by Swiss-French architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, also known as le Corbusier between 1950s to 1960s.
As per the information, Hollande will reach Chandigarh at 12.30 pm and will stay in the city for about 5 hours before leaving for New Delhi at 5.30 pm. A traditional cultural programme is likely to be performed at the Airport to welcome the French President.
Hollande will be received by PM Modi at Hotel Taj following which both will attend Indo-French forum of CEO's at the Hotel. French Ambassador to India has already visited the city to take stock of security arrangements.
Modi will then accompany Hollande during his visit to the prominent landmarks including Capitol Complex, Government Museum and Art Gallery and Rock Garden.
In Capitol Complex, Hollande will visit the Open Hand monument, the city’s official emblem which has been designed in the form of a giant hand made from metal sheets that rotates like a weathercock indicating the direction of wind. This giant hand is 14 metres high and weighs around 50 tonnes.
Arrangements have also been made to showcase architectural landmarks like legislative Assembly and chambers in High Court at Capital Complex to the French President.
le Corbusier had planned the city on the lines of a human body the Capitol Complex was to be the head of the body, the commercial centre its heart, the industrial area its hand and the intellectual centre being the parkland. The Capitol Complex was conceived by Corbusier himself.
On the other hand, the sculpture kingdom Rock Garden designed by late Nek Chand is also spruced up for Hollande’s visit. More
than two dozen labourers are cleaning the statues and sculptures made by late Nek Chand.
At Chandigarh Museum and Art Gallery, some of the fossil found during an excavation carried out by a team of Indian and French scientists at the foothills of Shivalik will be put on display for the French President. The joint team had found rich a cache of diverse fossils which are said to be around 2.6 million years old. The excavation was carried out at Masol village in Mohali between September 2009 and March 2015.
During the visit to Chandigarh, Prime Minister Modi is also expected to announce Chandigarh as one of the smart cities of the country. Both Modi and Hollande are likely to sign an MoU to develop Puducherry and Chandigarh as smart cities as part of bilateral agreement.
Hollande will be the chief guest at the January 26 Republic Day Parade in New Delhi.