PARIS, 10 September 2020, TON: Today, France mentioned India as its “foremost” Asian strategic partner and described the upcoming visit of its Defence Minister Florence Parly in India. Florence  Parly will undertake an official visit to India today, 10^th September 2020. Here she will attend the official induction ceremony of the first batch of the Rafale fighter aircraft by the Indian Air Force Station at Ambala.

According to the statement released by the Embassy, “On this occasion, Minister Parly will strengthen France’s forward-looking defense cooperation with India, its foremost Asian strategic partner. The Minister will thus meet her counterpart, Rajnath Singh, and Ajit Doval, National Security Adviser”. It will be Parly’s third visit to India since 2017.

According to the Embassy, the focus of the talks will be on maritime security ties in the Indo-Pacific, counter-terror cooperation, and developing comprehensive bilateral defense partnership. “Their broad-ranging talks will cover, among others, industrial and technological partnership in line with the Make in India program, operational defense cooperation, particularly maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, modalities of continuing the armed forces’ joint exercises in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, counter-terrorism cooperation as well as major regional and international strategic issues,” the embassy said.

It also said that the talks would take forward the decision of French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deepen and expand the Indo-French partnership with strategic autonomy and the defense of a multipolar order as its cornerstones.

The diplomatic relation between India and France are in a good rhythm in the last few years, with cooperation witnessing a significant expansion in critical areas. The areas of defense and security, civil nuclear cooperation, and trade and investment constitute the principal pillars of the Indo-French strategic partnership.

Besides, India and France are increasingly engaged in new areas of cooperation, such as in the Indian Ocean region, climate change, and sustainable growth and development.

Both India and France have essential bilateral investment and trade cooperation. France has emerged as a significant source of FDI in India, with more than 1,000 French establishments operating in the country with a total turnover of around US $ 20 billion.