NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who is in the United States as part of a diplomatic visit, will undertake a three-day trip to Paris and Berlin beginning Sunday for high-level talks on energy, trade and defence amid the West Asia war.
Misri’s visit to the European nations comes at the end of his three-day trip to the US, where he met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a number of other senior officials of the Trump administration.
The West Asia crisis and its impact on energy security are expected to figure prominently in Misri’s talks with his interlocutors in Paris and Berlin. India has more than 10 million of its nationals living in West Asia. It is a major source of India’s energy import. India has consistently called for unimpeded access.
In Paris, the foreign secretary will co-chair the India-France Foreign Office Consultations along with Martin Briens, the secretary general of the French Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday.
Both Misri and Briens will discuss a wide range of issues, including defence, civil nuclear energy, space, cyber and digital, artificial intelligence and initiatives fostering people-to-people exchanges, in addition to the latest global and regional developments, it said.
In Berlin, the foreign secretary will co-chair the India-Germany Foreign Office Consultations alongside Geza Andreas von Geyr, the state secretary of the German Foreign Office. The discussions would cover diverse domains of bilateral co-operation, including trade and investments, defence and security, technology, green energy, development co-operation, education and people-to-people ties as well as global and regional matters of mutual interest, the MEA said in a statement.
Misri is expected to meet other dignitaries and senior government officials in both Paris and Berlin.’ The visit is in keeping with the regular high-level exchanges between India and Europe.