Jaishankar to step up diplomatic push on visit to France, Belgium
This visit is part of the government's efforts to step up its diplomatic engagement post Operation Sindoor to garner support for India's fight against terrorism.
'The visit of EAM is expected to further deepen India's friendly relations with the European Union, France and Belgium and give renewed momentum to ongoing cooperation in diverse areas,' the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing the visit from June 8 to 14. In March, Mr. Jaishankar had travelled to the U.K. and Ireland, and in May, he had visited the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
In France, Mr. Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Paris for bilateral talks with French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barrot, and to Marseille to address the 'Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue', a conference of the Ministry and Observer Research Foundation (ORF). This is significant because Marseille is one of the European ports along with Trieste, Italy, and Piraeus, Greece that are in the running for the India-Middle East-Europe-Economic Corridor (IMEC) route, and although ambitions for the project launched in 2023 have been dimmed due to the Israel-Gaza conflict, New Delhi is keen to keep discussions on it alive.
In Brussels, he will hold a 'Strategic Dialogue' with EU High Representative and Vice-President Kaja Kallas, the Ministry said. Mr. Jaishankar is also expected to raise India's request for the repatriation of diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, who is under arrest pending a trial for extradition to India to face charges of fraud and embezzlement.
Mr. Jaishankar will end his tour in time for the G-7 summit in Canada, although it is unclear whether he will attend. He is also scheduled to travel to Washington for the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in early July and could accompany PM Modi to the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 5-6.
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