India, France discuss ways to deal with terrorism

New Delhi: India and France today held extensive discussions on ways of enhancing cooperation to deal with increasing menace of terrorism internationally with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj strongly advocating an early adoption of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the UN.

During talks with her visiting French counterpart Laurent Fabius, Swaraj also insisted that it was important for the international community to speak in one voice which was the only way to address terrorism effectively, official sources said.

The two leaders also discussed the recent Paris attack in which at least 130 people were killed as well as the Mali hostage crisis.

Swaraj expressed her deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the Paris attack, the sources said.

“Standing shoulder to shoulder with France. EAM @SushmaSwaraj meets with French Foreign Minister @LaurentFabius,” the Spokesperson in the MEA tweeted.

On the bilateral front, Swaraj and Fabius, who had earlier called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also took stock of the implementation of the bilateral agreements done during Modi’s visit to France earlier this year.

Swaraj hosted a working dinner for Fabius which was also attended by Power and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal during which they discussed India’s ambitious targets to scale up energy production through renewable sources including solar and wind.