Accompanied by wife Brigitte Marie-Claude and senior cabinet ministers, Macron was greeted by PM Modi with his trademark bear hug. Macron will "spend a lot of time with Narendra Modi," and they have "formed a close relationship" during Macron's first nine months in power. India and France are looking to boost ties, especially in the areas of maritime security and counter-terrorism

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today broke protocol to receive French President Emmanuel Macron, who has arrived in India on a four-day bilateral visit. 

Accompanied by wife Brigitte Marie-Claude and senior cabinet ministers, Macron was greeted by PM Modi with his trademark bear hug, soon after deboarding his plane at AFS Palam in Delhi. 

Modi and Macron will hold delegation-level talks tomorrow, where the two are expected to review the whole gamut of bilateral relations. Both India and France are looking to boost ties, especially in the areas of maritime security and counter-terrorism. 

An agreement on the Jaitapur nuclear power plant, which is being built with French assistance, is expected to be signed during the visit. Greater cooperation in the defence and space sector is also on the table. 

Macron will "spend a lot of time with Narendra Modi," a source in the French presidency told AFP, adding that they had "formed a close relationship" during Macron's first nine months in power. 

On Saturday, Macron will take part in a Town Hall and have an interactive session, in which nearly 300 students from different levels and institutions are expected to participate.

On the same day, he will also take part in a Knowledge Summit which will be attended by more than 200 academicians from both sides.

The 40-year-old French premier and his wife are scheduled to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra on Sunday. Macron will also visit Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of PM Modi, on March 12. 

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is also slated to meet the French President sometime during the latter's four-day stay in India. Party sources told PTI that the Congress scion will not bring up the controversial Rafale aircraft deal at the tete-a-tete with Macron.