The discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron covered key developments in the region including the Red Sea tensions.
The situation in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Friday. “The two leaders discussed not just areas of priority in our bilateral partnership but also focussed quite a lot on what’s happening in different parts of the world,” he said.
An India-France joint statement said the two leaders “strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October and expressed solidarity with the people of Israel. Condemning the huge loss of civilian lives in the ongoing conflict, they emphasised the need to respect international humanitarian law”.
Modi and Macron on Thursday held extensive talks in Jaipur to deepen bilateral ties. “The potential disruptions and the actual things happening in the maritime domain there (Red Sea), which is causing disruption to the commercial shipping is indeed a matter of serious concern and both leaders focussed on it,” he said.
India is deeply concerned about the situation unfolding in the Red Sea and parts of the Arabian Sea as attacks by Houthi rebels on commercial vessels in the region impact its economic interests.
He said India has always had very strong partnerships with different stakeholders in this maritime space. “We have always had very strong partnerships with different players. It is important because those partnerships help you build an information matrix in which you can respond to protect your commercial shipping interests and also other maritime security interests,” Kwatra added.
The Indian Navy has stepped up surveillance in the troubled region substantially and deployed task groups consisting of around 10 warships following the recent attacks on India-bound merchant vessels, including MV Chem Pluto and MV Saibaba.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia has been targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea with missiles and drones after the Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7.
The attacks on commercial shipping in the Red and Arabian Seas and the situation in Gaza were the focus of recent discussions between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran, with the Indian minister flagging concerns about a perceptible increase in threats to the safety of maritime traffic in the region including attacks in the vicinity of the Indian coast.
“The ongoing conflict in Gaza, and its various dimensions, the terror dimension, the humanitarian dimension, the civil disruption dimension…all those things came up for discussion and both leaders shared their perspective,” Kwatra said.
The joint statement, which was released late on Friday, added: “Both leaders also called for an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. The two leaders reaffirmed that a political process leading to a two-state solution for the Israeli and Palestinian people is required for lasting peace and stability in the region.”
Responding to a question on cooperation in the Indian Ocean region and Indo-Pacific, he said both India and France are resident powers in this part of the world and they can cooperate to mitigate the challenges and harvest the opportunities that exist. “That has always been a very important priority of discussions between the leaders. And discussions this time were no exception.”