Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday met his French counterpart Florence Parly and held the third Annual Defence Dialogue between India and France. “India-France Strategic Partnership is more relevant today than ever. I had an excellent meeting with my French counterpart, Ms @florence_parly,” tweeted Singh. A wide range of bilateral, regional, defence and defence industrial cooperation issues were discussed in the annual meeting, said a Defence Ministry release.
The Ministers reviewed the existing military-to-military cooperation, which has increased in spite of pandemic challenges. They discussed ways to increase defence cooperation in all domains.
India and France have recently concluded their annual bilateral Army Exercise, Shakti, with a focus on counter-terrorism operations, in France in November.
Defence industrial cooperation was discussed with a focus on future collaborations and co-production between the two countries, added the release.
The Ministers acknowledged their convergences on a number of strategic and defence issues. They expressed commitment to work together to enhance cooperation in bilateral, regional and multilateral forums.
France is the current chair of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and shall take over the Presidency of the European Union from 1 January 2022. The two Ministers decided to work closely on a number of issues during the French Presidency.
The French Defence Minister also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss global challenges, seeking India’s partnership to build a multi-polar order and defend the rule of law in the international system.
“French Minister for the Armed Forces @florence_parly called on Hon’ble PM of India Shri @narendramodi. 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,” tweeted Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India.
According to the French Embassy, the visit highlights France’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific and the centrality of India in the French strategy. “It comes in the wake of several major bilateral Air, Navy, and Army exercises this year. Desert Knight 21 in January, Varuna in April, Shakti in November. Minister Parly will stress France and India’s joint commitment to answering the challenges of the Indo-Pacific by bringing together friendly powers to defence the rule of law, offering a positive agenda to the countries of the region and rejecting all forms of hegemony,” the embassy said.
Expressing concerns over the situation in Afghanistan, Parly has said that terrorism is a major challenge to all that has hit France and Europe over the last few years and has not spared the Indo-Pacific including India.
“This fight is not over and will continue for many years to come. The threat of attack on our countries has not disappeared. I am thinking in particular about the situation in Afghanistan which is a matter of concern for both France and India,” said Parly during a webinar. “Moreover, this threat needs to be addressed in a comprehensive manner,” she added.
“The first challenge I see is terrorism. Terror has struck France and Europe over the last few years and has not spared the Indo-Pacific including India,” she said.
Shedding light on other challenges, Parly said that France sees the respect of maritime law as one of the crucial issues.
“The second challenge I see is respect for maritime law. Everyone knows that some of the waterways are crucial for the economic security of a number of countries in the region,” she said.
The Minister also talked about France’s presence in the Indo-Pacific. “The French deployment was very large and unprecedented in 2021. France has deployed an attack ceremony for 8 months and up to over 15,000 kilometres from its mainland territory across the Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific and the South China Sea,” said Parly.
Parly also said her country was ready to provide more Rafale combat aircraft if India wanted them. “We as France are ready to answer any additional needs or request that could be made by India. We know that an aircraft carrier will soon be delivered. Aircraft are needed. So we are open and ready to provide any other Rafale if this is India’s decision,” Parly said.