PM meeting with French FM called off due to Covid-19

New Delhi: The scheduled call-on meeting between visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was cancelled on Wednesday, with PM Modi likely to cancel scheduled meetings in the next few days as well with visiting foreign dignitaries due to his commitments in attending other official meetings related to tackling the ongoing terrifying surge in Covid cases in the country.

The scheduled call-on meeting between visiting French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was cancelled on Wednesday, with PM Modi likely to cancel scheduled meetings in the next few days as well with visiting foreign dignitaries due to his commitments in attending other official meetings related to tackling the ongoing terrifying surge in Covid cases in the country, sources have said.

This comes even as foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla tested negative for Covid after a reported scare but there was no confirmation whether this had anything to do with the cancellation of the meeting between the the French foreign minister and PM Modi. It may be recalled that the visiting French minister had held bilateral discussions with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar earlier on Tuesday.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, meanwhile, the French embassy said, “Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, minister for Europe and foreign affairs of France, is on an official visit to India from 13th to 15th April at the invitation of the Indian authorities. This visit bears testimony to the vitality of the strategic partnership between France and India, which continued being strengthened, despite the public health crisis, and to the solidarity between our two countries in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The minister held in-depth talks with his counterpart, the external affairs minister of India, Dr S. Jaishankar, on April 13 on enhancing bilateral cooperation as well as regional and international issues. The two ministers raised all the aspects of the bilateral strategic partnership, including the deepening of defence cooperation, intensifying exchanges in the field of space, and the EDF offer for the construction of 6 (European Pressurised Reactors) EPRs in Jaitapur” (Maharashtra, for civil nuclear energy).

The French embassy added, “On major regional and international issues, the two ministers reaffirmed France and India’s commitment to an international order based on the rule of law. Minister Le Drian also raised the ongoing work in the European Union towards the adoption of a European strategy for the Indo-Pacific, which France actively supports”.

India is a major strategic partner of France.