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| Pranab Mukherjee to leave for France, Germany today | | |
New Delhi, Sept 1: Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee will embark on a six-day visit to France and Germany on Saturday, to boost the bilateral defence cooperation with the two countries.
Senior officials of the Ministries of Defence and External Affairs, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and of the Armed Forces will accompany the Defence Minister.
During the first leg of his visit to France from September 3 to 5, Mukherjee will hold discussions with his French counterpart Michele Aliotte Marie, besides visiting the Centre for Planning and Operations Management (CPCO) and the Command of Air Defence and Air Operations (CDAOA) at Taverny.
CPCO is the Joint Staff Operations Centre of the French Defence Forces. It deals with international operations, plans and execution at Joint Staff level.
The Mukherjee-led delegation will be briefed about all types of operations being undertaken by the French Defence Forces all over the world. The Defence Minister will also have an interactive round table with the CEOs of French Defence related industries.
Shortly after his arrival in Paris on Sunday, the Defence Minister will go to Neuve Chapelle to pay homage at the Indian Soldiers’ Memorial. The memorial was built in honour of the Indian Army, which fought in France and Belgium during the First and Second World Wars and in remembrance of those servicemen who have no known grave.
Mukherjee’s visit to France assumes significance as India is likely to achieve better results in the field of defence cooperation by way of strengthening the defence relations.
Defence relations between India and France have been fairly robust in the field of supply and production of defence related equipments. The India-France Defence MoU signed in 1982 and Indo-French High Committee set up in 1998 are the landmarks in India-France Defence Cooperation. Cooperation has also increased in the field of joint exercises, security dialogue and training.
Mukherjee will leave for Berlin on September 5 with an aim to enhance Defence Cooperation between the two countries, which is at present not so wide. However, the two countries are likely to sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement for strengthening defence relations.
According to a Defence Ministry release, India is interested in enhancing defence cooperation with Germany in the field of Defence Technology and Training. Both the countries are also interested in cooperation in the field of Joint Naval Exercises and more interaction between the armed forces.
In Berlin, Mukherjee will hold bilateral talks with his German counterpart Franz Josef Jung and the German Minister for Economics and Technology Michael Gloss, besides meeting the captains of German Defence Industries.
He is also scheduled to pay his homage at the Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery where lie the graves of 206 Indian soldiers, who died as prisoners during the First World War in Halbmond and Windberg Prisoner of War camps near Zossen. The cemetery has been rebuilt by the Common Wealth War Graves Commission.
The delegation includes S Banerjee, Director General Acquisition, Lt Gen HS Lidder, CISC, HQ IDS, Air Marshal FH Major, AOC-in-C, Eastern Command, Dr. Prahlada, CC R and D, DRDO, Sujata Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry External Affairs and Gautam Chatterjee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence. |
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