NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take his push to turn thriving India into a major manufacturing and investment hub to the eurozone's two biggest economies this week on his maiden visit to the continent.
Modi flies out Thursday to France, whose government is desperate to save a troubled $12 billion defence deal, before heading to Germany to inaugurate one of the world's biggest trade fairs.
He will also visit Canada at the end of the three-nation trip, home to a large Indian diaspora.
The right-wing Hindu nationalist was effectively blacklisted by the European Union for years after deadly communal riots in 2002 in the state of Gujarat, which he governed for over a decade.
But after his landslide victory in last year's general election and with India's economy now growing faster than even China's, the one-time outcast is likely to receive a warm reception.
While New Delhi's close ties with Moscow may limit the areas of common ground on geopolitical issues, the trip represents a perfect opportunity for Modi to tout India as a place to do business.
"I look forward to visit France to seek greater French involvement in our Make in India Programme, including in the defence manufacturing sector," the prime minister wrote on Facebook ahead of his departure.
Modi launched the "Make in India" campaign last year as the centrepiece of a project to rewrite the country's reputation as a tricky place to do business in, beset by bureaucracy, corruption and a stringent tax regime.
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