PM Modi, French Prez Hollande visit government museum, gallery in Chandigarh

Chandigarh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on Sunday visited the Government Museum and Art Gallery after the latter`s arrival here on a three-day official visit to India.

"Visit to the Government museum - an example of Indo-French collaboration in historical & archaeological work," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Visit to the Government museum - an example of Indo-French collaboration in historical & archaeological work pic.twitter.com/OHu3zlgmX4 — Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) January 24, 2016

Located in the heart of city which was designed by French architect Le Corbusier, the museum and the gallery houses part of the collection of art objects, paintings, sculptures and decorative arts that were kept in the Central Museum, Lahore, the then capital of Punjab, prior to Partition in 1947.

On April 10, 1948, the collection was divided. While Pakistan retained 60 percent of the objects, the remaining 40 percent fell in the share of India. Received in the month of April,1949, this collection was first housed in Amritsar, then Shimla, Patiala and finally shifted to Chandigarh where the museum and gallery were inaugurated on May 6, 1968.

Earlier, PM Modi met Hollande at the Rock Garden here and the two leaders took a tour of the famous landmark created by Nek Chand.

The two leaders then visited the Capitol Complex here which houses the seats of governments of both Punjab and Haryana.

During his brief stay in Chandigarh on Saturday, Hollande, along with Modi, will also attend a CEOs` Forum and the India-France Business Summit.

In the evening, the visiting dignitary will leave for New Delhi, where he will attend this year`s Republic Day parade on Tuesday as the chief guest.

On Monday, Hollande and Modi will hold a bilateral dialogue following which a number of agreements are scheduled to be signed.

The two leaders will inaugurate the Interim Secretariat of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and lay the foundation-stone of the ISA headquarters near New Delhi.

On Tuesday Hollande will attend the Republic Day parade on Rajpath as chief guest, becoming the fifth serving French president to do so.