20th India-France Joint Staff talks held in Paris

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The 20th edition of India-France Joint Staff talks was held in Paris, France. 

About India-France Joint Staff talks

• It is a forum established to enhance defence cooperation between both the nations through regular talks at the strategic and operational levels.
• The two-day talks focused on new initiatives that fall within the umbrella of the existing bilateral defence cooperation and strengthening of ongoing defence engagements between both the countries.

India-France Relations 

• Strategic Partnership
  • India and France have traditionally had close and friendly relations. 
    • In 1998, the two countries entered into Strategic Partnership which is emblematic of their convergence of 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 our Strategic Partnership with  France. 

• New areas of cooperation
  • India and France are increasingly engaged in new areas of cooperation like  security in the Indian Ocean region, climate change including the International  Solar Alliance, and sustainable growth and development among others.
•  Space Cooperation

• India and France have a rich history of cooperation in the field of space for  over 50 years with ISRO and the French Space Agency (CNES) carrying on various  joint research programmes and launch of satellites. 

• Civil Nuclear Cooperation
  • An agreement on civil nuclear cooperation was signed between India and  France on 30 September 2008 during the visit of the then PM to France.

• Economic Cooperation
  • Both India and France have important bilateral investments & trade and   commercial cooperation. 
  • France has emerged as a major source of FDI for India with  more than 1,000 French establishments already present in India with a total  turnover of US $ 20 billion and employing around 300,000 persons.
  •  France is the 9th largest foreign investor in India with a cumulative investment of USD 6.59 billion  from April 2000 to December 2018. 
• Blue economy
  • Both nations have inked a roadmap to enhance their bilateral exchanges on the blue economy and forge a common vision of ocean governance based on the rule of law and cooperate on sustainable and resilient coastal and waterways infrastructure. 
    • Blue Economy and coastal resilience are a common priority for India and France.
• Defence:
  • An agreement for building six Scorpène submarines in India with French help was signed in 2005.
  • Joint exercises between the air forces (Garuda series) and the armies (Shakti) were instituted in 2003 and 2011, respectively.
  • The government-to-government agreement for 36 Rafale aircrafts has taken place. 

• Culture 
  • Indian culture enjoys a wide following amongst the people of France. 
  • The  International Day of Yoga has been organised by the Embassy of India in Paris and  other cities of France since 2016 and has received wide acclaim and press  coverage. 
  • Year long celebrations have also been organised to commemorate 150th  Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, 550th Birth Anniversary of Shri Gurunanak Devji . 

Source:PIB