French Foreign Minister visit India

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna addressed the media with her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as part of her first official visit to India. Speaking on the issue of food security, she said Western sanctions against Russia are not leading to the food security issues, nor are they responsible for the energy crisis.

"These issues have been created by the Russian war on Ukraine." She also addressed India's relationship with Russia and the Indo-Pacific with regards to China. She said, "we know the kind of role that the Chinese are playing and we want to make sure that there is no imbalance in the Indo-Pacific nor are we looking for any imbalance of power elsewhere in the world."

India and France agreed to set up an Indo-Pacific trilateral framework to roll out development projects, decided to expand strategic cooperation and vowed to work closely to deal with pressing global challenges such as the food crisis triggered by the Ukraine war.

After wide-ranging talks with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna described Russian attacks on Ukraine as waging a "devastating war of aggression" on the territory of a sovereign state and that France is determined to work with India addressing the "terrible consequences" of the war.

Jaishankar and Colonna, meanwhile, agreed to cement bilateral ties in several areas of mutual interest during their talks in the Indian capital.