French Navy Chief begins a three day visit to India

New Delhi: Chief of the French Navy Admiral Pierre Vandier is in New Delhi as part of his three-day visit to India. The visit aims to further bolster bilateral maritime cooperation, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.

On the first day of his visit,  Admiral Vandier interacted with his counterpart Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff. Indian Navy Spokesperson said that various bilateral cooperation were discussed between naval principals including avenues of capacity building, strengthening interoperability, and collaborative mechanisms towards ensuring peace & stability in the Indian Ocean Region.

The French Navy Chief also called on Army Chief General MM  Naravane. Both sides held discussions on a range of bilateral defence issues.

Indian Army said in a tweet, "Admiral Pierre Vandier CNS, FrenchNavy, called on General MM Naravane COAS and discussed ways to further strengthen the Defence Cooperation between the two countries."

The visit by the French Navy Chief comes over a month after external affairs minister S Jaishankar travelled to Paris.

The maritime cooperation between India and France has reached to a new height in the last few years. Both the navies had carried out a mega last year in the Arabian Sea in the backdrop of growing concern over China's growing maritime presence in the Indian Ocean region.

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