Paris, April 11 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid homage at the Indian Memorial at the Neuve Chapelle in France that commemorates Indians who sacrificed their lives in World War I.

The memorial on the outskirts of Neuve Chapelle in the department of Pas de Calais in northern France commemorates over 4,700 Indian soldiers and labourers who lost their lives on the Western Front during World War I and have no known graves.

The Indian national anthem was played as the prime minister stood in silence in memory of all those who are commemorated in the memorial.

After arriving in the northern French city of Lille from Toulouse on Saturday afternoon, Modi drove down to the memorial on what was a rainy day.

Earlier on Saturday, Modi visited the Airbus facility and the French space agency CNES in Toulouse.

He will leave Lille for Paris where he will meet representatives of the Indian community and former French president Nicholas Sarkozy.