Rajnath Singh co-chairs 4th India-France Annual Defence Dialogue with French Minister Sebastien Lecornu in New Delhi

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The Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the visiting French Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu jointly chaired the 4th India France Annual Defence Dialogue in New Delhi on 28 November 2022.  Sebastien Lecornu is also scheduled to meet the External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar and the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today.

The French defence minister who is officially known as Minister for the Armed Forces is on a two day (27-28 November) visit to India to strengthen the bilateral defence ties with India. It is his first official visit to India.

On 27 November 2022 Sebastien Lecornu visited the Southern Naval Command Headquarters at Kochi and saw India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

According to the Defence Ministry, India and France have close and friendly relations. In 1998, the two countries entered into Strategic Partnership, marking convergence of their views on a range of international issues apart from a close and growing bilateral relationship.

The areas of Defence & Security cooperation, Space cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation constitute the principal pillars of India’s Strategic Partnership with France.

India and France military exercises.

The 20th Indian and French navy’s joint exercise “VARUNA” was conducted in the Arabian Sea from 30 March to 3 April 2022.

The  'Garuda VIl' exercise was held from 26 October to 12 November 2022 at Air Force Station Jodhpur.