Jaishankar meets leaders of Germany, Canada, France on sidelines of Munich Security Conference

Munich: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held bilateral meetings with leaders of Germany, Canada, France and Czech Republic on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Jaishankar, who is attending the Munich Security Conference from February 13 to 15, said in a social media post he held a “productive” bilateral meeting with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul and the two leaders assessed the progress of cooperation in various domains.

“Also spoke about regional hotspots,” he added.

The external affairs minister also met Czech Republic’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and discussed strengthening economic and defence cooperation. “Hope to welcome him soon to India,” he added.

Jaishankar also met with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand. “India-Canada ties continue their steady progress,” he said.

The external affairs minister also met his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot and Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić-Radman.

Earlier, Jaishankar also met his counterparts from the G7 countries as he reiterated India’s support for reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC).

The meeting comes after India concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) with the 27-nation European Union in January.

Jaishankar in a social media post said he was pleased to engage with G7 Foreign Ministers and reiterated India’s support of the UN@80 agenda, particularly meaningful reform of the UN Security Council.

Jaishankar started his Munich Security Conference with a roundtable ‘Delhi Decided: Mapping India’s Policy Calculus’, organised by the Ananta Aspen Centre, a non-partisan organisation.

The external affairs minister said he highlighted the “importance of a nimble and dynamic foreign policy to meet the demands of multipolarity”.