India and France on Tuesday reviewed the entire gamut of their bilateral relation including strategic ties during talks here between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Besides growing economic, defence and strategic ties, the two leaders also discussed the regional as well as global challenges. The French minister arrived here on Monday evening on a three-day visit to explore ways to further boost cooperation between the two countries, including in the Indo-Pacific region.
Incidentally, the talks were held days after the Quadrilateral countries including India, the US, Japan, and Australia participated in a naval drill led by the French navy in the eastern Indian Ocean region last week.
The three-day exercise ‘La Perouse’ was a reflection of their growing strategic cooperation in the region.
The exercise witnessed complex and advanced naval operations including surface warfare, anti-air warfare and air defence exercises. The Indian Navy had said its participation demonstrated the shared values with friendly navies ensuring freedom of seas and commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order.
Meanwhile, after the talks on Tuesday, Jaishankar said India and France will advance their shared post-COVID-19 agenda through "close collaboration".
"A comfortable, substantive and productive discussion with FM @JY_LeDrian. India and France will advance their shared post-COVID agenda through close collaboration," he tweeted.
French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain described the meeting as "excellent". "Excellent meeting b/w @JY_LeDrian @francediplo_EN & @DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia. The ministers discussed all aspects of the bilateral strategic partnership, regional & global challenges and cooperation at the #UNSC," Lenain said in a tweet.
On Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs said the visit by the French foreign minister will pave the way for further strengthening of bilateral partnership across trade, defence, climate, migration and mobility, education and health sectors in the post-COVID-19 context.
The French embassy said Le Drian is undertaking the visit to strengthen strategic ties between France and India, boost cooperation in several fields, particularly the Indo-Pacific.
The defence and security ties between India and France are on an upswing in the last few years. India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore. Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale jets, has delivered 14 aircraft to the IAF so far.
visit came a week after a three-part investigative series by French media outlet, Mediapart revealed, based on French anti-corruption agency audit, how French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation had paid €1 million to an Indian company owned by a middleman, Sushen Gupta, in connection with the €7.87 billion Rafale deal between India and France in 2016.