Jaishankar to visit France, Belgium from June 8
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is travelling to France and Belgium from June 8 to 14, days after he visited Germany. The visit is important since a multi-party political delegation also visited France and Belgium to canvas support for India's stance on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
Jaishankar will first travel to Paris and then to Marseille.
During this visit, he will travel to Paris and Marseille where he will hold bilateral discussions with his counterpart Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Jean Noel Barrot, besides engaging with the country's senior leadership. He will also participate in the inaugural edition of the Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue which is being held in the city of Marseille.
The Ministry of External Affairs said India and France have completed 25 years of strategic partnership. 'Our relations with France are rooted in deep trust and commitment, and our two countries cooperate closely across all domains of strategic and contemporary relevance besides sharing similar outlook on many regional and global issues,' it said in a statement.
In the second leg of the visit, he will travel to Brussels. Here he will carry out talks with the EU as well as Belgian counterparts.
During the visit, Jaishankar will hold a strategic dialogue with the EU High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas, and will engage with the senior leadership from the European Commission and the European Parliament.
The MEA statement said: 'India-European Union strategic partnership has strengthened over the years across diverse sectors and got a big boost with the first-ever visit of the EU College of Commissioners to India in February this year.'
During his visit to Belgium, he will hold bilateral consultations with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Belgium, Maxime Prevot and also meet the senior leadership of Belgium. He will interact with the members of the Indian community.
'India and Belgium share warm and friendly relations along with a very robust economic partnership. Today the collaboration between the two countries spans various domains like trade and investment, green energy, technology, pharmaceutical, diamond sector and strong people to people ties,' the MEA said.
The ministry said that the EAM's visit is expected to further deepen India's friendly relations with the European Union, France and Belgium and give renewed momentum to cooperation in diverse areas.
Jaishankar met visiting UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Saturday, and said that India follows a policy of 'zero tolerance against terrorism' and expects its partners to understand that Delhi will never 'countenance' the equivalence of perpetrators and victims. This message will be conveyed to counterparts in Belgium and France as well. This was the first visit by a Foreign minister from a P-5 country to India, after the India-Pakistan hostilities last month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to travel to Canada for the G7 leaders' summit on June 15-17. He will meet his counterparts from France, Germany, UK and the EU, among others during the visit.
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