The three countries pledged to closely work together toward a free, open, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific. This comes at a time when China is increasingly becoming assertive over the area.
The trilateral meeting of the 'India-France-Australia focal points' in Delhi shared detailed discussions on the situation in the Indo-Pacific. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, there has been a review of progress across three priority areas: maritime safety and security, marine and environmental cooperation, and multilateral engagement by the three countries.
Proposals of new initiatives for trilateral cooperation were discussed during the meeting, mainly under the frameworks of the IPOI and IORA.
The MEA said that both countries' commitment to shared values—along with India's—to a strengthening collaboration toward the creation of a free, open, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.
The IPOI, set up in November 2019 on the sidelines of the 14th East Asia Summit called by PM Shri Narendra Modi, acts as an institutional Dragons-Innovation for For fostering the cooperative efforts of like-minded countries in making out an effective management, conservation, and security of the maritime domain of the Indo-Pacific. On the other hand, IORA is an intergovernmental platform of nations with the primary objective to strengthen regional cooperation.
The team on the Indian side also included Piyush Srivastava, JS (Europe West), and Paramita Tripathi, JS (Oceania and Indo-Pacific) from the Ministry of External Affairs. The French delegation is being led by Benoît Guidée, Director of Asia and Oceania at the French Foreign Ministry, and the Australian side by Ms. Sarah Storey, First Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asia Division, at the Australian Foreign Ministry.
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