4th India-France Defense Dialogue:
The 4th India-France Defense Dialogue was held in India.
Key Highlights:
- Both countries discussed Defence Industrial Cooperation with a focus on ‘Make in India’.
- A wide range of bilateral, regional and defence industrial cooperation issues were discussed during the dialogue.
- Both sides reviewed the ongoing military-to-military cooperation, which has increased substantially in recent years.
- They recognised their convergences on a number of “strategic and defence issues and shared the commitment to work together on enhancing cooperation in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
- The discussions ranged from enhancing cooperation in areas of mutual interest to the maritime challenges in the IOR (Indian Ocean Region).
- France reaffirmed its engagement in the Indo-Pacific and India’s centrality in the French strategy for the region.
- France is the current chair of Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and both countries cooperate closely in these fora.
