Prime Minister Narendra addressing a community programme at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Friday said that India and France share “historic ties” and the friendship is “unbreakable”.

“The relationship India and France share is more than just friendship… The Indo-French relationship has stood the test of time,” PM Modi said.

Addressing the gathering at the UNESCO, he said India is now achieving goals that it only dreamt about.

Referring to India healthcare programme that has become the world’s largest, Modi said the Ayushman Bharat scheme covers more people than the entire populations of the US, Canada and Mexico combined.

He said within 75 days of the new government coming to power, several strong decisions were taken against corruption, nepotism, terrorism and so on.

“I want to tell you that India is now surging ahead. The mandate we got is not merely for running a government but for building a new India”.

The Prime Minister also referred to the doing away of the practice of triple talaq in his address saying that injustice cannot be done to Muslim women in new India.

India will achieve most of the climate change goals set for 2030 in the next year and a half, he exuded confidence.

India and France’s alliance, he said, can be summed up as “INFRA”, whether it is the solar infrastructure or any other form of infrastructure.

“Modi… Modi” chants erupted at the meeting as the gathering applauded the PM’s speech.

Ahead of his address, the Indian Prime Minister was accorded a rapturous welcome at the UNESCO headquarters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in France on the first leg of a three-nation trip.

Earlier, he held a marathon one-on-one meeting with the French President Emmanuel Macron during which they reviewed the entire gamut of the dynamic and multi-faceted relationship to further boost the strategic partnership.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi met his French counterpart, Edouard Charles Philippe.

Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said that India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir issue bilaterally and that no third party should interfere or incite violence there after Prime Minister Narendra Modi explained to him about the changes brought about in Kashmir and that it is part of India’s sovereignty.

Earlier on Thursday, Modi was accorded a red-carpet welcome at the airport where he was received by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.

From France, Modi will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain before returning to France to attend the G7 Summit in Biarritz from August 25-26.