French Defence Minister meets PM Narendra Modi, defence cooperation, regional security discussed

New Delhi, Dec 17 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met French Defence Minister Florence Parly during which the two sides discussed bilateral defence cooperation, regional security, the Indo-Pacific and France’s forthcoming Presidency of the EU Council.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister said that he reiterated India’s commitment to further deepening the bilateral Strategic Partnership.

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“Received French Minister for Armed Forces @florence_parly today and discussed bilateral defence cooperation, regional security, Indo-Pacific and France’s forthcoming Presidency of the EU Council. I reiterated India’s commitment to further deepening our Strategic Partnership,” the PM posted.

The French Embassy, tweeting on the meeting between Parly, the French Minister for the Armed Forces, and PM Modi, said:

”In a world of growing instability, France sees India as major power & partner to build a multipolar order, defend the rule of law and tackle global challenges.”

France has come closer to India since the forming of the AUKUS partnership, between Australia, the UK and US, which was announced suddenly in mid-September, and led to Canberra abruptly cancelling an agreement with France for conventional submarines, in favour of nuclear-powered ones to be delivered by the US and UK.

Earlier, in the day, the French Defence Minister held a meeting with Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh for the annual Defence Dialogue.

“India-France Strategic Partnership is more relevant today than ever. I had an excellent meeting with my French counterpart, Ms @florence_parly. A wide range of bilateral, regional and defence industrial cooperation issues were discussed in the Annual Defence Dialogue today,” the Raksha Mantri tweeted.

The French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain, tweeting on the talks, said that the two sides held in-depth talks at the Annual Defence Dialogue, with the agenda covering “maritime security, joint exercises, on-time delivery of Rafale jets, counterterrorism, new Make In India projects.

“Indo-French defence cooperation makes both countries stronger,” he said.

She also met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

The French Ambassador said: “Minister @florence_parly’s meeting with NSA Ajit Doval showed great convergence of views on major regional security issues and a shared will to coordinate closely on #counterterrorism and the situation in #Afghanistan.”

Earlier the French Minister laid a wreath and paid tribute to India’s valiant soldiers at the National War Memorial. She also offered her condolences to the Indian Armed Forces and the people of India on CDS Gen Bipin Rawat’s tragic demise.

UNI/RN