India, France discuss dialogue potential with Oz

New Delhi, April 14

India has kept up its in-person diplomatic engagements despite a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hitting the country. Scheduled to attend a foreign ministers’ trilateral here, Australia’s Marise Payne cancelled her visit but her French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived here on Monday and had an in-person meeting with S Jaishankar. Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid will arrive here on Thursday.

At the Raisina Dialogue, Payne pointed out that in terms of maritime safety and security, the Australia-France-India partnership had sound precedents of working together. The trio also shared a focus on sustainability of the oceans, resilience to natural disasters and climate change, she added. The minister also co-chaired an event with Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. — TNS