Army chief to undertake four-day visit to France from today

Army Chief General Bikram Singh is undertaking a four days tour to France from today.

During his visit, the Army Chief will be interacting with Jean Yves Le Drian, Minister for Defence, Adm Edouard Guillaud, Chief of General Staff and Gen Bertrand Ract-Madoux, Chief of France Army and discuss various defence related issues to strengthen existing defence ties with France.

General Singh will also visit Land Forces Command in Lille and the Military School at Draguignan.

During his visit, the Army Chief will also lay wreath at Neuve Chapelle Memorial, dedicated to the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in France and Belgium from 1914-1918 in the First World War.

India shares good bilateral and strategic relations with France that are multifaceted and have been strengthened over the years with regular exchange of visits at political, diplomatic and military levels.

The visit by General Singh will add the necessary impetus to the existing defence relationship and broad-base it into a mutually beneficial partnership.

Indian relations in the filed of defence with France have graduated from military cooperation to comprehensive defence cooperation, to include courses, training for UN Peacekeeping Operations, joint training and exercises in the fields of counter terrorism, exchange of observers on each others' Army exercises and defence procurement.