France vows to up anti-terror cooperation with India

Move after attack in Nice which killed at least 84

Paris on Friday vowed to step up counter-terrorism cooperation with New Delhi, following the deadly terror attack at Nice in southern France which killed 84.

The attack in the French Riviera renewed the focus on several plans to augment bilateral security cooperation, including a proposed joint exercise between the National Security Guard of India and the Groupe d’ intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN )  — the elite counter-terrorism force of France.

Paris’ envoy to New Delhi Alexandre Ziegler on Friday said that France and India stood together in the fight against global terrorism. His comment came even as President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led India to reaffirm solidarity with France in combating the menace.

“More than ever, we (France and India) shall enhance our cooperation against those who would like to spread all over the world their message of death, of hate and fanaticism. India, like France, knows only too well that there is no possible compromise with terrorists,” Ziegler told journalists in New Delhi.

At least 84 people, including several children, were killed and many others injured in a deadly terror attack at Nice in southern France on Thursday.

President Pranab Mukherjee wrote to his French counterpart Francois Hollande, conveying that the people of India stood beside the people of France in solidarity and sympathy.

“I am deeply pained to learn that France was once again afflicted by a major tragedy caused by a heinous act of terror last evening. The pre-meditated massacre of innocent people as they were participating in the Bastille Day celebrations - including, sadly, many children, is an unspeakable crime,” Mukherjee wrote to Hollande.

“India shares the pain and stands firmly with our French sisters & brothers in this hour of immense sadness,” Modi posted on Twitter, condemning the “mindless act of violence”.

The terror attack in the French Riviera came at a time when the governments of the two countries were discussing a proposal for a joint exercise between the NSG and the GIGN , officials told DH in New Delhi.

The French and Indian soldiers also had a joint counterterrorism drill – Exercise Shakti – at Bikaner in Rajasthan at the beginning of the year. Paris has been keen to step up counter-terrorism cooperation with New Delhi, ever since over 130 people were killed in a series of deadly terror attacks in the capital city of France.

The India-France Joint Working Group of India on Counter-terrorism met in New Delhi in December 2015 to discuss cooperation in the fight against the global menace, particularly on sharing of intelligence and augmenting the capacity of anti-terror forces of both the nations.

The two nations also hold a Strategic Security Dialogue – an institutional mechanism for talks between the national security advisor to prime minister and diplomatic advisor to French President.

Hollande’s visit to New Delhi as the Chief Guest in the Republic Day ceremony and his meeting with Modi last January added fresh momentum to counter-terrorism cooperation.

The two leaders issued a joint statement on counter-terrorism, vowing to help each other fight “violent extremism and radicalisation, disrupt recruitment, terrorist movements and flow of foreign terrorist fighters, stop sources of terrorist financing and dismantle terrorist infrastructure and prevent supply of arms to terrorists”.