India, France vow stronger counter-terror cooperation

India and France have reaffirmed their commitment to deepen counter-terrorism cooperation, condemning the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which 26 civilians were massacred by terrorists.

The 17th meeting of the India-France Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism was held in Paris on September 11. The Indian delegation was led by KD Dewal, Joint Secretary (Counter-Terrorism), Ministry of External Affairs, while the French side was headed by Olivier Caron, France’s Counter-Terrorism Ambassador.

According to MEA officials, both sides exchanged assessments on the evolving terror threat, including state-sponsored cross-border terrorism, terrorist activities in their respective regions and the situation in the Middle East. They also reviewed "challenges posed by radicalisation" and the misuse of emerging technologies by terrorist groups.

The discussions covered avenues for strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation, particularly in the United Nations, the Financial Action Task Force and the “no money for terror” (NMFT) initiative. Training, joint exercises and capacity-building measures were identified as key areas of collaboration.

The two sides also agreed to broaden the counter-terrorism dialogue to cover organised crime, combating online propaganda, cyber-related threats and mechanisms for intelligence sharing. India and France agreed to convene the next session of the joint working group in India at a mutually convenient date.