French Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to visit India

The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, will visit India during April 13 to 15, the Embassy of France announced on Monday.

The ministerial talks are expected to focus on “all aspects of the bilateral strategic partnership” covering joint ventures in the Indo-Pacific and cooperation at the UN Security Council where India has completed the first three months of its stint as a non-permanent member.

Le Drian’s visit to Delhi is likely to explore India’s sensitivities on ties with other powers such as Russia, China and India’s emerging partnership with Australia, the U.S., and Japan in the ‘Quad’.

The visit comes just over a week after a three-part investigative series by French media outlet, Mediapart revealed, based on French anti-corruption agency audit, how French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation had paid €1 million to an Indian company owned by a middleman, Sushen Gupta, in connection with the €7.87 bn Rafale deal between India and France in 2016.

It said French anti-corruption authorities made no serious attempts to investigate the angle of corruption and favouritism surrounding the Rafale deal.

Gupta obtained crucial documents on the Indian negotiating team involved in the Rafale deal and supplied them to Dassault Aviation.

Jaishankar will be joined by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne at the Raisina Dialogue which has emerged as the biggest diplomatic lecture series of India.