India and France pledged Saturday to work together to ensure freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean and signed an agreement to expedite construction of a major nuclear power plant in India by a French company.
After talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also highlighted a solar alliance and cooperation between the two countries in defense, security, technology, space and counterterrorism.
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India and France pledged Saturday to work together to ensure freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean and signed an agreement to expedite construction of a major nuclear power plant in India by a French company.
Macron, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday for a four-day visit to India, said France and India should be key partners.
"And I dream to have more and more Indian citizens coming to France -- studying, becoming entrepreneurs, creating startups -- and I want my country to be a best partner in Europe, an entry point," Macron said at a reception ceremony.
"I want to double the number of Indian students coming to France," he said later on Twitter.
The United States considers India a critical anchor in a regional strategy for the Indian and Pacific Oceans to blunt an increasingly assertive China. India is rallying support of countries including France and Australia on the maritime security front.
France has three Indian Ocean territories -- Reunion, Mayotte and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands -- comprising a total of almost 1 million French citizens.
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and wife Brigitte talks to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the ceremonial reception of Macron at the Indian presidential palace in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 10, 2018. Macron who is on a four-day state visit is expected to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and co-chair the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Macron, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday for a four-day visit to India, said France and India should be key partners.
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, hugs Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the ceremonial reception of former at the Indian presidential palace in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 10, 2018. Macron who is on a four-day state visit is expected to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and co-chair the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
"And I dream to have more and more Indian citizens coming to France -- studying, becoming entrepreneurs, creating startups -- and I want my country to be a best partner in Europe, an entry point," Macron said at a reception ceremony.
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and wife Brigitte, offer tributes at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi memorial, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 10, 2018. Macron who is on a four-day state visit is expected to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and co-chair the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance. (AP Photo)
"I want to double the number of Indian students coming to France," he said later on Twitter.
Modi said it was critical for the two countries to cooperate in the Indian Ocean region.
"Both our countries believe that for world peace, progress and prosperity in the future, the Indian Ocean region is going to play a very important role," he said.
To help ensure freedom of navigation, the space agencies of the two countries signed an accord to help them detect, identify and monitor sea vessels.
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and wife Brigitte, offer floral tributes at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi memorial, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 10, 2018. Macron who is on a four-day state visit is expected to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and co-chair the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance. (AP Photo)
The United States considers India a critical anchor in a regional strategy for the Indian and Pacific Oceans to blunt an increasingly assertive China. India is rallying support of countries including France and Australia on the maritime security front.
Shivani Singh, an Indian researcher on nuclear security, said France, like India, is an Indian Ocean power with a similar culture of strategic autonomy.
"France has the largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, of which 24 percent lies in the Indian Ocean region," Singh wrote on her blog on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron waves to media as he shakes hand with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi before their meeting in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 10, 2018. Macron who is on a four-day state visit is expected to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and co-chair the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
France has three Indian Ocean territories -- Reunion, Mayotte and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands -- comprising a total of almost 1 million French citizens.
"France also has military bases in Djibouti and the United Arab Emirates," Singh wrote. "This gives France significant sovereign, demographic and economic interests to defend militarily in the region."
France and India also agreed to exchange information and technical experts in the fields of environment and climate change.
The nuclear agreement is considered significant, with critics saying that Jaitpur, the site of the six-unit plant, which is to generate 9,900 megawatts of power in western India, is in a seismic zone. The opposition has grown since Japan's nuclear accident in 2011, with several villagers refusing to hand over their land to the Indian government for the project.
On Saturday, the nuclear agreement was signed by state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India and the French firm EDF.
Another agreement envisages reciprocal logistical support between the two countries' armed forces.
In 2016, India signed an $8.78 billion deal with France to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets in "ready to fly" condition, meaning they will be made in France.
On Sunday, India and France will co-host the first meeting of the International Solar Alliance, an initiative launched by the two countries on the sidelines of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.
India says that access to solar technology is becoming a reality, with costs coming down and grid connectivity improving.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, shakes hand with French President Emmanuel Macron before their meeting in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 10, 2018. Macron who is on a four-day state visit is expected to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and co-chair the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
The objective of the solar alliance of more than 120 countries is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
France is the ninth-largest foreign investor in India. Bilateral trade between the two countries touched $10.95 billion during April 2016 to March 2017, according to India's External Affairs ministry.
India's main exports to France include textiles, boilers, electrical machinery and equipment, organic chemicals, railroad rolling stock, mineral fuels, leather goods, and gems and jewelry.
France mainly exports aircraft, medical instruments, organic chemicals, iron and steel, plastics, pharmaceuticals and chemical products to India.
Macron also paid homage to the tens of thousands of Indians who died in World War I, and said India is being invited to a major ceremony being planned in Paris for Nov. 11, the 100th anniversary of the war's end.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians voted Friday in a moderate turnout in the second round of multi-phase national elections as Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to galvanize voters with his assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics.
People lined up outside polling stations as voting opened at 7 a.m. local time and braved hot summer weather with temperatures soaring up to 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) in the afternoon.
The election authority said in a statement that approximately 60.96% of 160 million eligible voters exercised their right to cast a ballot in the second round.
The outcome of Friday’s voting will be crucial for Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, as the 88 constituencies up for grabs across 13 states include some of its strongholds in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Most polls predict a win for Modi and the BJP, which is up against a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties.
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi is running in Wayanad constituency in southern Kerala state for a second time, after he was defeated in 2019 elections by Smriti Irani, a BJP leader, in the northern Indian city of Amethi — a traditional stronghold for the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Other prominent candidates in the second phase of voting include Shashi Tharoor of the Congress party, popular BJP Bollywood star Hema Malini and actor Arun Govil, who played the role of Hinduism's revered Lord Ram in a 1987 television adaptation of the ancient epic Ramayana.
Prime Minister Modi urged people to vote in record numbers to strengthen democracy.
“I especially urge our young voters and women voters to turn out in great numbers. Your vote is your voice!” Modi said in a message on the social media platform X before voting began Friday.
The BJP has already won one parliamentary seat from Surat in Gujarat state, where the Congress party candidate was disqualified Monday. Election officials said they found discrepancies in the signatures on the nomination and other candidates pulled out of the contest, leaving BJP nominee Mukesh Dalal as the winner by default.
Nearly 970 million voters — more than 10% of the world’s population — will elect 543 members to the lower house of Parliament for five years during the staggered election, which runs until June 1. The votes will be counted on June 4. There are a total of 28 states in India.
The turnout in the first phase of polling on April 19 was estimated at around 62% of 166.3 million eligible voters.
By comparison, India’s 2019 national election registered the highest-ever voter turnout — 67.11% — in the history of Indian parliamentary elections. The turnout is expected to increase for five more rounds of voting.
Voters’ relative apathy has surprised some political analysts, but they say that the BJP remains a front-runner.
"You could argue that the listlessness is a consequence of a foregone conclusion,” said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an Indian political scientist.
"But for Modi’s party which is expecting to win 400 of the 543 seats the joyous surge is missing," he said in an article in the Indian Express daily.
However, Prime Minister Modi said “Phase Two (voting) has been too good!”
Critics of the prime minister, an avowed Hindu nationalist, say India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since the BPJ won power a decade ago. They accuse the party of fostering religious intolerance and sometimes even violence. The party denies the accusation and says its policies benefit all Indians.
Modi stirred a huge controversy over the weekend when he said that the Congress party, if voted to power, would distribute the country’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children,” in an apparent reference to the Muslim community.
Hindus make up 80% of India's 1.4 billion people, while Muslims account for 14% and Christians and Sikhs 2% each.
The Congress party leaders met with election officials and urged them to investigate whether Modi’s comments violated the body’s code of conduct that bars politicians from appealing to voters based on caste and religious feelings.
The BJP also filed a complaint against Congress's Gandhi, accusing the opposition leader of falsely asserting that poverty was increasing and driving a wedge between the North and South of India based on language and region to disrupt the electoral environment.
The election authority recognized the complaints on Thursday and asked the presidents of the two parties to file their responses by Monday. The authority is expected to give its ruling next week.
Tangkhul Nagas rest outside a polling station in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
An elderly voter waits to cast his vote as an election official checks for his name in the voters list during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Jammu, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
A paramilitary soldier stands guard as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Jammu, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Indian men gather outside a polling station after casting their votes during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in Barmer district, western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Women arrive to cast their vote during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in Barmer district, western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Women walk to cast their vote during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in the desert village Akli in western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Women queue up to cast their vote during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in Barmer district, western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Women pose with their identity cards as they walk to cast their vote during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in the desert village Jaiisindhar, Barmer district, western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Tangkhul Nagas wait to cast their votes during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
A security person walks past queues of voters in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A woman shows the indelible ink mark on her finger after casting vote in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Voters line up to vote in a polling station during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
People check for their names in the voters' list as they arrive to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
An elderly man puts his thumb impression before casting his vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Sunanda village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man displays his index finger marked with indelible ink a sign that he voted as he rides on a two wheeler after voting during second phase of national election, near Palakkad, southern state of Kerala,India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People vote during the second phase of national election in Palakkad, Kerala, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A woman leaves after casting her vote at a polling booth during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A voter puts his hand on a classroom desk covered in marks as a polling officer applies indelible ink mark on his index finger at a polling station situated inside a school during the second round of voting in the national election, near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Tangkhul Nagas stand in a queue to cast their votes in Shangshak village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
A man squats to rest as he waits with others in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Jammu, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
People walk to a polling station after crossing the Brahmaputra river in a boat during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, about 77km (48 miles) from Guwahati, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Women hold their babies as they queue up to cast their votes in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election outside a polling booth in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
A police official instructs an elderly couple take rest sitting on a bench during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
An elderly couple arrive as others wait in a queue to cast their vote during the second phase of national election in Palakkad, Kerala, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Women stand on queue to cast their votes in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A security person walks past queues of voters in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
People stand in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A person drinks water to beat thirst and humidity as he queues up to vote during second phase of national election, near Palakkad, in southern state of Kerala, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A man squats to rest as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Jammu, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Elderly voters sit as others stand in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People check for their names in the voters' list as they arrive to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A voter shows her identity papers and signs her name in the polling register before casting her vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Tangkhul Nagas stand in a queue to cast their votes in Shangshak village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
An elderly woman arrives at a polling station to cast her vote in Shangshak village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
A woman waits to cast her vote at a polling booth during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A man shows his identity papers to a polling official as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A security personnel stands guard as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A man squats to rest as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election outside a polling booth in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
People queue up to vote behind a statue of the Hindu goddess of learning, Saraswati, during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election outside a polling booth in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A policeman stands guard as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election outside a polling booth in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
Elderly voters sit as others stand in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People stand in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man shows his voter's identity card as he queues up with others to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
