France together with India in fight against terror: Ravi Shankar Prasad-led team concludes Paris visit

Paris: France has reiterated its solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism emanating from Pakistan and agreed that the democratic world needs to speak in one voice on this issue, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said at the conclusion of the Paris leg of his all-party delegation's visit to Europe.

The nine-member delegation was on Tuesday joined by representatives of the India-France Friendship Group in the French Senate led by its Vice-President, Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio, as well as members of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee at the grand Luxembourg Palace for their final engagement here before departing for Rome, Italy.

“All the colleagues in the Senate in this majestic building have only one word to say: we are together with India in the fight against terrorism,” Prasad told reporters.

“They totally agreed that France and India, indeed the whole democratic world, need to speak in one voice in the fight against terrorism emanating from Pakistan and supported by the Pakistani state,” Prasad said, adding that the delegation was “really touched” by this support and expressed gratitude to the French senators.

“We saw it all here: energy, compassion, love for France and India and the people, that is the takeaway (of the visit),” he added.

The dialogue with the senators followed a meeting with members of the India-France Friendship Group in the Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly) earlier on Tuesday.

“This meeting was very interesting for us to note how India sees France. We have a partnership that is very strong, very old and very good for both nations. It’s promising for the future,” said Thierry Tesson, President of the group, which is planning a visit to India soon.

“We are fighting against terrorism in France also. Like the president of the delegation (Prasad), I agree it (terrorism) is like a cancer that has to be fought against. We are stronger when we are together against this cancer,” he said.

Earlier, the multi-party delegation, including MPs Daggubati Purandeswari, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Ghulam Ali Khatana, Dr Amar Singh, Samik Bhattacharya and M Thambidurai, and former union minister M J Akbar and former deputy national security advisor Pankaj Saran, addressed the French media to highlight the global aspect of terrorism rooted in Pakistan.

“The distinction between the state of Pakistan and terrorism has now withered away. Terrorism as an instrument of state policy is a part of the military state of Pakistan,” Prasad told reporters.

The European delegation, one of 33 similar all-party teams travelling across the globe to express India’s zero-tolerance stance against terror, is now scheduled for dialogues and meetings in Italy. This will be followed by visits to Denmark, the UK, Belgium and Germany.

As part of India’s diplomatic outreach, all-party delegations are travelling to global capitals to reach out to the international community on Pakistan’s designs and New Delhi's response to terror, especially in view of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.