EAM Jaishankar embarks on week-long trip to Europe

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday embarked on a week-long visit to Europe to hold talks with leaders of France, the European Union and Belgium to boost bilateral ties and reaffirm India's policy of zero-tolerance against terrorism.

Jaishankar's visit to Europe comes a month after India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack and it is expected that he will apprise the European leaders about New Delhi's firm approach in dealing with cross-border terrorism.

In the first leg of his tour, Jaishankar will visit France, a country that has emerged as an all-weather friend of New Delhi.

"The external affairs minister would travel to Paris and Marseille where he would be holding bilateral discussions with his counterpart minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean Noel Barrot," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Jaishankar would also participate in the inaugural edition of the Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue to be held in the city of Marseille.

In Brussels, Jaishankar will hold a strategic dialogue with the EU High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas.

"India-European Union strategic partnership has strengthened over the years across diverse sectors and got a big boost with the first-ever visit of the EU College of Commissioners to India in February this year," the MEA said.

Jaishankar will engage also with the senior leadership from the European Commission and the European Parliament, besides interacting with think tank and media.

In the third and final leg of his visit, the external affairs minister will hold wide-ranging talks with leaders of Belgium.

"India and Belgium share warm and friendly relations along with a very robust economic partnership. Today, the collaboration between the two countries spans various domains like trade and investment, green energy, technology, pharmaceutical, diamond sector and strong people-to-people ties," the MEA said.

It said Jaishankar would hold bilateral consultations with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Belgium Maxime Prevot and would also meet the senior leadership of the country.

He will also interact with the members of the Indian community.