Just a few days after Emmanuel Macron took over the reins of his country, the French embassy in India received a call from the Prime Minister's Office. They wanted to quickly plan a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Macron. Modi was on a scheduled three nation tour of Europe—Russia, Spain and Germany. He could squeeze in a day for meeting Macron.
The French government, which is used to standard protocol that includes weeks and even months of planning before a country's head visits another, was taken aback. The officials, however, got to work and planned that famous meeting. Modi was one of the first international leaders to personally meet and greet Macron.
The unconventional diplomacy, which actually is 'conventional Modi diplomacy' paid. (It hasn't always worked; the Christmas Day visit to meet Nawaz Sharif yielded no returns.) France, and Emmanuel Macron, both, have worked overtime to make his forthcoming visit to India meaningful. Macron is reportedly reading a lot, and consulting experts on India.
India, too, is keen to keep happy a partner that stood by it steadfastly when the world imposed sanctions. That India and France's strategic relationship goes back to 1998, the post Pokhran II time, says a lot.
Macron has kept his engagements in India intensive (March 9 to 12), and yet tried to encompass as much of the diversity of the bilateral ties as possible in a packed four day tour. French officials say that Macron, on his first visit ever to India, was keen to see beyond the capital city engagements, and wasn't keen on the regular Mumbai (business) or Bengaluru (technology) visit. India offered Varanasi, the prime minister's own constituency, which has a rich tapestry of culture and tradition. Furthermore, Modi offered to take him around, himself. The two will lunch privately on Macron's last day in India, stroll down the ghats and even take a chopper ride together to Mirzapur where Macron will inaugurate Uttar Pradesh's largest solar plant, built by a French firm.
When the first lady accompanies a head of state, the Agra tour is almost mandatory. Macron and wife Brigette will do their posing on the famous bench, and also attend a select dinner some kilometres away from Delhi, with a carefully curated guest list from the world of art.
Sunday, of course is almost entirely dedicated to the International Soalr Alliance Summit, being hosted at Rashtrapati Bhawan itself. Throw in a town hall with students, and you not only make that people to people connect, but also pitch in to bring business (student for universities) back to France. With just 5,000 Indian students in France, here is clearly an area of great potential.
Close on the heels of the Trudeau visit, Macron's tour will undoubtedly be on the scanner and put up for comparison. But with so much homework being done, Macron seems likely to pass the test. Results to be out by Monday evening.