Doval Holds Strategic Dialogue With French NSA

New Delhi: National Security Advisors of India and France met here on Thursday for a strategic dialogue that comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.

NSA Ajit Doval's meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Bonne focussed on taking forward the issues discussed in the Modi-Macron talks on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Biarritz in France.

New Delhi and Paris have busy engagements as much is on the plate in terms of supply of military hardware, including the fresh French offer of 36 additional Rafale jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The first of the 36 Rafale jets ordered by India in a 7.8 billion Euro deal signed in 2016 will be handed over to the IAF on September 20 in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa.

France has proposed to supply the 36 jets which will be more advanced than the first lot.

India and France are strategic partners, and Paris has fully supported New Delhi on the Kashmir issue. The two countries are also on the same page on climate change apart from having robust defence ties.