External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday held wide discussions with French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot on several issues and both sides agreed to intensify bilateral cooperation in areas such as defense, security, space and civil-nuclear cooperation.
Jaishankar also expressed India’s “deep praise” to France for strong condemnation of cross -border terrorist attack in Pahgam and thanked Paris for “Firm support for India’s rights to defend himself against terrorism”.
Addressing a joint press conference in Marsile after the meeting, he underlined that India and France have had a “very high level of faith” over the years because someone looks at their relationship and cooperation.
He said that both sides also discussed global and regional issues such as the Indian subcontinent, Ukraine conflict, status in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific.
“It has always been our situation that this is not an era where differences should be decided through war. We believe that there is a response to dialogue and diplomacy … No solution is going to come out of the battlefield, our situation has always been,” he said.
Jaishankar said that both sides “held extensive discussions, which covers people’s relations, innovation, AI, technology”.
He said, “And, how we discussed between education, research, business and dynamics, discussing how we can actually add new ways to add more substances to our relationship,” he said.
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He said, “Defense, security, place, civil nuclear cooperation, I think we agreed to intensify all of them through very concrete measures and projects in the coming time,” he said. Jaishankar stated that his conversation with Barrot also covered IMEC, and “our triangular development cooperation, how we carry forward some of our tripartite mechanisms, we have one with UAE, and with Australia”.
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