French foreign minister arriving on two-day visit, to meet Modi

French Foreign Minister laurent Fabius will be on a two-day official visit to India from Monday to establish the first high-level contact with the Narendra Modi government.

Fabius will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.The French minister and Sushma Swaraj will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.A number of other engagements are envisaged during the visit, said an official statement.Fabius had accompanied President Francois Hollande during his visit to India last year.

India and France share a warm and friendly bilateral relationship and have common perspectives on a wide variety of issues in the global arena.The visit of the French foreign minister will help in establishing contact with the new leadership in India and also provide an opportunity for reiteration of the strategic importance of the Indo-French relationship, the statement said.Fabius will be accompanied by an official delegation. He will also visit Mumbai.