Rajnath Singh meets French counterpart Parly, holds 3rd Annual Defence Dialogue

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday met his French counterpart Florence Parly and held the 3rd 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 2021.

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 January 01, 2022. The two Ministers decided to work closely on a number of issues during the French Presidency.

Earlier, Parly called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She is expected to meet with other Indian dignitaries during her visit.

( With inputs from ANI )