Indian and French officials met on January 20 for the Foreign Office Consultation when the two leaders undertook a comprehensive review of the progress made in various facets of bilateral cooperation and expand partnership in high-end technology sectors.

The consultation in Paris was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary of India Vikram Misri and Secretary-General of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Anne-Marie Descôtes.

"The discussions encompassed key areas of bilateral cooperation including defence, civil nuclear energy, space, cyber and digital, AI, institutional dialogue mechanisms, and initiatives fostering people-to-people exchanges and cultural ties," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

During the meeting, both sides agreed to expand bilateral partnership in the areas of high-end technology sectors.

"In addition, the dialogue extended to global and regional issues such as cooperation in environment, climate change and health, cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, trilateral dialogues, joint development projects in third countries and ongoing international issues and crises such as those concerning the situation in the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine conflict," the statement said.