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Vice President Kamala Harris is in Paris this week on a 4-day diplomatic tour to mend strained relations with France.
The Deputy Commander-in-chief of America will be on a four-day tour and will arrive late Tuesday.
According to reports from NPR, Harris will be delivering an address to the Paris Peace Forum on November 11. She is expected to address challenges linked to “rising inequality and the need for leaders around the world to join together and take bold action.”
On November 12, Harris will be taking part in an international conference that is being organized to back the upcoming national elections in Libya, a north-African country that has been torn with political instability and civil war.
The Vice President’s schedule also reportedly includes a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron as she works to smoothen over strained relations with France, which were triggered after America announced a strategic partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia nicknamed AUKUS.
The alliance effectively canceled a 2016 submarine deal between Australia and France.
The US’ decision to undercut the deal was met with severe criticism from several European leaders, especially Macron, who had criticized the alliance in the strongest terms.
A senior administration official said in a statement, “This is a great opportunity for her to continue to develop her partnership, not just with President Macron, but with what we expect will probably be 25 other world leaders”, according to reports from NPR.
Harris and Macron are also expected to touch on global health, space and other issues. On Tuesday, Harris is to tour the renowned Institut Pasteur. Harris’ mother, who was a scientist, collaborated with the institute’s scientists on breast cancer research in the 1980s.
The high-level meeting comes less than two weeks after President Joe Biden met Macron on the margins of the G20 summit in Rome and acknowledged that his administration had handled the submarine deal in a “clumsy” way.
“The alliance between the United States and France is America’s oldest, and among our strongest,” said Harris. “I look forward to discussing with President Macron our work together on the most urgent challenges of our time —including the climate crisis, the global health crisis, and regional security concerns. We will also discuss new opportunities for collaboration in the area of space.”
