Foreign Secretary Briefs on PM's France Visit

Foreign secretary brief on PM's France visit

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday outlined the key issues discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to France for the G7 Summit, highlighting progress on trade negotiations, concerns over the situation in West Asia, maritime security, and India's engagement with major global partners.

Addressing a special briefing after the summit in Evian, Misri said trade was prominently included in several of PM Modi's bilateral meetings, including those with US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Union leaders and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Among the major developments, Misri said India and the United States are in the final stages of concluding an interim bilateral trade agreement.

"With the United States, we have made significant progress already on the conclusion of an interim free trade bilateral trade agreement. We are in the final stages of concluding that agreement. Next week in fact the United States trade representative Jamieson Greer will be visiting India to take forward these discussions. In the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister and President Donald Trump yesterday in Evian, this was a major subject of discussion. Both leaders once again gave instructions for this agreement to be concluded at the earliest possible," Misri said.

He added that trade and economic cooperation were recurring themes across several of PM Modi's engagements during the summit.

On Canada, Misri said both countries have renewed efforts to conclude negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of the year.

"Prime Minister, as you're aware, held a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada and the two leaders gave instructions to their teams to conclude the negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by the end of the year. You're aware that our Commerce Minister had recently visited Canada and discussions have already started on this," he said.

Referring to discussions with the European Union, Misri said leaders reiterated their commitment to signing the India-EU Free Trade Agreement before the end of the year.

"With the European Union... before the end of the year, the agreement will be signed. This is something that came up in their meeting in Evian on the sidelines of the G7 meetings. And they once again reaffirmed their desire and instructed the respective teams to do whatever was necessary to make this signing happen before the end of the year," he said.

Misri also highlighted the announcement that the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will come into force on July 15, describing it as one of the key outcomes of Prime Minister's interactions on the sidelines of the summit.

Beyond trade, Misri said the situation in West Asia was a major focus of discussions between PM Modi and other world leaders.

"Of course, the focus was on the situation in West Asia. In his meetings with his counterparts and also in his interventions at the G7, the Prime Minister expressed once again India's desire to see sustained peace and security in this region. India welcomed the developments that have taken place through the understanding that has been reached between the United States and Iran and hopes to see a rapid return to peace and stability in this region," he said.

The Foreign Secretary said PM Modi also raised concerns over the safety of seafarers and the importance of keeping global maritime trade routes open amid regional tensions.

"We have always emphasized the importance of maintaining the freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce through the international waterways in the region. Prime Minister specifically emphasized the issue of the safety and security of seafarers. He noted how hundreds of thousands of Indian seafarers essentially provide a global public good by serving on maritime platforms that serve the global community and serve global maritime trade in a big way, and why therefore their safety and security should be a common concern of the global community," Misri said.

On the ongoing tensions involving Iran and Israel, Misri said India has remained in contact with all relevant parties and is willing to contribute to efforts aimed at restoring peace.

"We have a good relationship with Israel. And as I said, throughout this conflict, we have been in touch with various parties. We've been in very close contact with Iran as well, with the Iranian authorities... We are not a party to the conflict. We would leave it to the parties to the conflict to decide how to arrive at arrangements to terminate the conflict, to end the conflict, and to find a roadmap after that for a path forward. Now that we are at the beginning of such a path, if there are ways in which we can contribute through our engagement, whether it is with Iran or with Israel, we would be ready to do that," Misri said.

India also endorsed three outcome documents adopted at the summit relating to cancer research, the Ebola outbreak in Africa and the need to create safer digital spaces for minors.