India, France to deepen defence ties; agree to combat terrorism

Defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday that he had "fruitful deliberations" with his French counterpart during which they reviewed the full spectrum of the bilateral defence engagement and reaffirmed their strong commitment to further deepen cooperation to combat terrorism.

Singh and French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly held the second ministerial level Annual Defence Dialogue between the two countries in Paris on Tuesday night after France formally handed over the first Rafale fighter jet to India.

Soon after the meeting, Singh tweeted that he "had fruitful deliberations" with Parly.

"We assessed and reviewed the full spectrum of our bilateral defence engagement," he said.

The two ministers comprehensively reviewed the entire gamut of the bilateral defence cooperation, which is a key pillar of the India-France strategic partnership, the defence ministry said in a statement.

"Both leaders also reaffirmed the strong intention of the two sides to further deepen ...