India and France held discussions on a plethora of bilateral and global issues on Sunday, as Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris.
“Held wide-ranging and productive talks with FM @JY_LeDrian. Discussions on bilateral cooperation, Ukraine situation, Indo-Pacific and JCPOA reflected our deep trust & global partnership. Look forward to participating in EU Ministerial Forum on Indo- Pacific,” Jaishankar tweeted Monday.
The Indian Foreign Minister reached Paris from Germany where he went to attend the Munich Security Conference 2022, where top world leaders converged to discuss the volatile situation in Ukraine, among several other issues.
In their talks, Jaishankar and Le Drian appreciated the close cooperation between India and France during the pandemic and agreed to further deepen the strategic partnership, particularly in the areas of trade and investments, defence and security, health, education, research and innovation, energy and climate change, the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“As part of this endeavour, both sides adopted the ‘India-France Roadmap on the Blue Economy and Ocean Governance’, which aims to enhance partnership in the field of blue economy by way of institutional, economic, infrastructural and scientific cooperation,” the Ministry said.
With the goal of further facilitating people-to-people contact, the two ministers also agreed to continue and enhance their cooperation in the field of sports and agreed to soon conclude a Joint Declaration of Intent in the area of sports, it added.
Last week, India urged its nationals in Ukraine to consider leaving that country amid heightened tensions over a possible Russian invasion.
“In view of uncertainties of the current situation in Ukraine, Indian nationals, particularly students whose stay not essential, may consider leaving temporarily,” India’s Embassy in Kyiv said on Friday 15.
Moscow has deployed an estimated 130,000 soldiers near the Russia-Ukraine border, triggering fears among NATO members that President Vladimir Putin may invade the country to annexe its eastern parts which are home to a large ethnic Russian population.
Source: United News of Bnagladesh