Delhi: Indian PM Narendra Modi and French President in regular contact with Ukraine and Russia: Foreign Secretary Shringla

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron are among the few leaders who have had regular contacts with the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine and continue to maintain an open channel of communication with them. Is. India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said this on Wednesday.

The Russo-Ukraine War has entered its third week, with fighting reaching the streets of all important cities. Addressing the India-France Track 1.5 Dialogue, Shringla said the global strategic approach appears to be complex. “The post-World War II security structure, which had largely maintained peace in Europe over the past several decades, is now undermined,” he said.

He said, “This scenario calls for a mature partnership to stabilize the functioning. Therefore, it is only appropriate that India and France, which have always sought to maintain strategic autonomy and have been successful, seek peace, dialogue and diplomacy. are at the forefront of the call.” Talking about the bilateral relations between India and France, he said, “India and France have long been friends and strategic partners. As resident powers of the Indo-Pacific, they have shared challenges, opportunities and stakes in the region.” understanding.”

Bilateral relations have been dominated by cooperation in traditional areas such as defense and security, science and technology, space and cultural connectivity. However, 21st century problems require 21st century solutions. Both countries understand this very well, which is why they are rapidly expanding their cooperation in non-traditional areas such as digital, cyber security, green energy and sustainable development.

He added that France is currently the President of the EU Council and is taking a leadership role in driving Europe through the current crisis, while also reinforcing Europe’s focus on the Indo-Pacific. “In this context, we appreciate the French initiative to organize the EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific last month,” he said. It is a unique opportunity for the countries of the European Union and the Indo-Pacific to develop a shared vision and strategy for cooperation.

“We also look forward to the resumption of negotiations on the India-EU FTA under the French presidency of the EU Council,” he said. Shringla further said, “Today’s discussion on innovation, sustainability and multilateral cooperation comes at an opportune time, when India and France are making rapid progress in key traditional and non-traditional strategic areas.”

The first of these is digital and cyber security. In August 2019, India and France adopted a roadmap on cyber security and digital technology, which sets out our shared vision for cooperation in a field that we regard as foundational to the 21st century. We have a strong Cyber ​​Dialogue, where we discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation on digital and cyber issues. On practical aspects also, we have excellent cooperation, as under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) by India’s Center for Development of Advanced Computing or C-DAC and French company Atos, India’s fastest supercomputer ‘PARAM-SIDHI-AI’ The excellent cooperation between us can be seen in the successful development of ‘.

There is also a growing realization that the 5G networks that are coming to both the countries must be secure. Both India and France are committed to finding solutions to the risks associated with 5G technology.