Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Marseille in south France and paid respects to the memory of freedom fighter V D Savarkar who made an attempt at a "courageous escape" in the port city.
"Landed in Marseille. In India's freedom struggle, this city holds a special place. Here, the great Veer Savarkar tried a courageous escape," Modi wrote in a X post on arrival there last night (local time).
"I also want to thank people of Marseille and the then French activists who were determined that he should not be handed over to British custody. Veer Savarkar's bravery inspires generations after generations!" he wrote.
In a late night message (IST 4.18 am) Modi wrote on X, "President Macron and I have arrived in Marseille a while ago. The visit will see important programs to further strengthen India-France relations. The opening of the Indian consulate will further enhance people-to-people relations. I will also pay respects to the Indian soldiers martyred in the First and Second World Wars."
It was during the British colonial era that freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar tried an escape from custody from detention on July 8, 1910, when he was being taken onboard the British ship Morea to India to be tried.
It is said to have escaped through the porthole of the ship and swum to the shore only to be arrested by the French authorities and handed over again into the custody of the British ship authorities. It raised a huge diplomatic controversy as Savarkar went on to be sentenced to life imprisonment at Cellular Jail at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Prime Minister Modi has come to Marseille to inaugurate a new Consulate General of India with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The two leaders have a busy agenda of events on Wednesday, including a scheduled visit to the Mazargues War Cemetery to honor the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the World Wars.
They also have a scheduled visit to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, an international nuclear fusion project. They had previously on Tuesday addressed the AI Action Summit and the 14th India-France CEOs Forum.
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