By IANS
New Delhi : French Socialist Party leader Ségolène Royal will Friday hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior Indian officials on issues of mutual concern and interest.
Royal, president of Poitou-Charentes region of France, is leading a large delegation of leaders and experts on developmental issues.
The 54-year-old leader contested last year’s presidential election as the Socialist Party’s candidate against Nikolas Sarkozy. But she lost and France missed the opportunity of electing a woman as its first president.
Manmohan Singh will host a lunch at his 7, Race Course Road residence for Royal Friday and the two leaders will discuss a slew of bilateral, regional and international developments, particularly those relating to development.
While in the Indian capital, she will also meet M.S. Swaminathan, the agriculture expert who played a key role in India’s Green Revolution.
Royal and her delegation arrived in Chennai Tuesday and have visited a number of places in the state where projects have been undertaken to rehabilitate and help those affected by the tsunami of 2003.