Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi and Emmanuel Macron met like two old friends when the Prime Minister, on the last leg of his three-nation trip, landed in Paris late Wednesday night and held discussions with the French President on a whole gamut of bilateral and global issues, including the Ukraine conflict, the Indo-Pacific, trade, terrorism and the strategic partnership between India and France.
“We talked at length about bilateral as well as global issues. India and France are proud developmental partners with the partnership spread across different sectors,” the PM later said. Modi last visited France in August 2019 and two leaders have stayed in touch through calls and written communication. They also met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit last year.
“We discussed different ongoing international crises as well as our strategic partnership. We also talked about food security issues and farm initiative in which India will play a key role,” said the French President. All key areas of bilateral engagement, including defence, space, civil nuclear cooperation and people-to-people linkages came up for discussions.
In the defence segment, the six Scorpene submarines built at MDL in Mumbai illustrate the level of transfer of technology from France to India in line with the Make in India initiative. The timely delivery of Rafale despite the pandemic shows the synergy in defence, said the joint statement issued after the two leaders met.
“On Ukraine there was a broad understanding of each other’s position. The two leaders agreed that close coordination and engagement was important. So that both India and France can play a constructive role in the evolving situation,’’ said Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra adding that they also discussed developments in Indo-Pacific.
PM Modi explained India’s nuanced position, while also calling for immediate cessation of hostilities and resolution of the ongoing situation through diplomacy and dialogue. Both countries underlined the need to respect the UN Charter, international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, also met his counterpart Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drain during the visit. Both the leaders exchanged views on the cascading effect of the situation in Ukraine.
Student exchange France plans to have 20,000 Indian students by 2025 to study in the country which will create opportunities for new businesses, start-ups and innovation between the two countries, according to a joint statement issued by the two countries after PM Narendra Modi held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Knowledge, cultural partnersIndia and France will explore the possibilities and mechanism to be a ‘knowledge partner’ in the creation of a new National Museum in Delhi. “The mutual interest in arts and culture has grown, and artists from two countries are eager to collaborate on projects such as festivals and residences,” a joint statement said.
Cooperation on combating terrorCounter-terrorism cooperation was a cornerstone of the Indo-French strategic partnership in the Indo- Pacific. The two nations condemned all forms of terrorism. Both sides will take part in the `No Money for Terror’ international conference to be hosted by India during the course of this year.
