FS Shringla and Alice Guitton
Paris: Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday met French DGRIS director general Alice Guitton and held discussions on Indo-Pacific region, maritime security and defence partnership.
In a tweet, Indian Embassy in France said, “Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla had a productive meeting with Ms. Alice Guitton, Director General, DGRIS with discussions on Indo-Pacific region & maritime security, defence partnership & regional security cooperation.”
Mr Shringla is on a 7-day European nations tour, starting Thursday. He is scheduled to visit Germany and the United Kingdom also.
His visit to these countries is part of India’s continuing international engagement and diplomatic outreach inspite of the limitations posed by the pandemic.
The Indian push comes at a time when China wariness is becoming a dominant theme in Europe. All three countries that the secretary is visiting, have decided not to allow Chinese companies to supply 5G equipment.
France has started taking an interest in the wider Indian and Pacific Oceans in addition to its traditional preoccupation with maritime events in its protectorates.
Germany too is taking a deeper interest in the developing confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, while the UK has been a traditional US ally for influence and intelligence operations.
New Delhi: India has dealt with the "worst crisis" in decades along its border with China with "firmness and maturity" despite facing the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday.
In an address at a leading think-tank in Paris, Mr Shringla mentioned two recent terrorist incidents in France, one of which he said had its origins in Pakistan, noting that the civilised world needs to act with firmness to address the threat of terrorism.
Speaking about the major geo-strategic issues, he said the immediate challenges have not been able to distract India from broader strategic goals, especially in the Indo-Pacific Region where it is moving purposefully at multiple levels to create an "open, inclusive architecture".
Mr Shringla arrived is on a week-long tour of France, Germany and the UK. His visit to France came as the country grapples with another terror attack.
Three people have died in a knife attack at a church in Nice on Thursday which was described by French President Emmanuel Macron as an "Islamist terrorist attack".
Mr Shringla, in his address at the Institut Français des Relations Internationales, said India and France face similar non-traditional security threats in the form of radicalism and terrorism, and the fight today is not against specific communities or individuals but against a "radical politico-religious ideology".
Referring to cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, the foreign secretary said India has continued to ward off the menace from its western border.
About the threats of terrorism and radicalism, Mr Shringla said radical ideology espouses violence and separatism, very often fanned and supported by foreign influence, adding such forces seek to destabilise pluralist societies.
"It was horrifying to hear about the two recent terrorist incidents in France, one of which, as is very often the case, had its origins in our western neighbourhood -- Pakistan," he said.
