Narendra Modi invited to visit France

New Delhi: France has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Paris before the end of this year amid its keenness to further strengthen ties with India.

In a congratulatory message sent to Modi soon after he assumed office, French President Francois Hollande invited the Prime Minister to visit Paris before the end of this year, sources said here. They pointed out that the French government had never imposed any visa ban on Modi when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The US had imposed a visa ban on Modi when he was heading the Gujarat government. After the victory of BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, the US has changed its stand and invited Modi to visit New York in September. Modi visited Bhutan as his first foreign destination after taking over and is also scheduled to visit Japan in August after the Budget session of Parliament. India and France have close and friendly ties. With the establishment of strategic partnership in 1998, there has been a significant progress in all areas of bilateral cooperation through regular high-level exchanges.