NEW DELHI - India and France on Tuesday agreed to cement cooperation in several areas after holding extensive talks on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual concern.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement as part of India-France Foreign Office Consultations, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra and Secretary-General of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Anne-Marie Descotes held extensive discussions in New Delhi and agreed to enhance cooperation in several areas.

"During the meeting, both sides undertook a comprehensive review of the progress made in various facets of bilateral cooperation, as outlined in the ambitious India France Horizon 2047 Roadmap," the statement said.

The two sides discussed "defence, civil nuclear energy, space, cyber and digital, AI, Science and Tech, UNSC reforms and multilateral cooperation, blue economy, institutional dialogue mechanisms, and initiatives fostering people-to-people exchanges and cultural ties." Both the officials also deliberated upon Indo-Pacific, climate action, energy transition, health, and trilateral forms of cooperation.

Global and regional affairs especially the evolving situation in Gaza and Red Sea and Russia-Ukraine conflict also came up for discussion.

India and France also held the Strategic Space Dialogue and India-France 'Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Dialogue' yesterday in New Delhi, the statement said.
India-France Foreign Office Consultations is considered a key bilateral mechanism to ensure cohesiveness to all the existing India-France exchanges.

The meeting also gave both the sides a chance to review actions across multifaceted ties and to build closer understanding and collaboration on shared priorities and challenges. (end) atk.mb

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