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India and France strengthened their counter-terrorism cooperation as Director General of the National Security Guard (NSG), Brighu Srinivasan, and Commander of France's GIGN, Colonel Benoit Villeminoz, signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) in Paris.
The agreement, signed on Wednesday, aims to enhance collaboration between the two elite counter-terror units by facilitating the exchange of expertise, experience, and specialised counter-terror skills, the NSG stated in a post on X. The LoI will enable both nations to deepen their synergy in tackling emerging security threats and to bolster joint capabilities in handling complex counter-terrorism operations. "India & France boosted their counter-terror partnership as DG NSG Shri Brighu Srinivasan & GIGN Commander Colonel Benoit Villeminoz signed a Letter of Intent in Paris on 19 Nov 2025, enabling deeper synergy in sharing expertise, experience & specialised Counter Terror skills," the post read. India and France have traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations and share a deep and enduring Strategic Partnership (SP) covering all aspects of bilateral cooperation, which involves a strategic component. Launched in January 1998, India's first-ever Strategic Partnership embodied the core vision of both countries to enhance their respective strategic independence through strengthened bilateral cooperation. Defence & security, civil nuclear matters and space constitute the principal pillars of this strategic cooperation and now include a strong Indo-Pacific component. In recent years, the partnership has broadened to include maritime security, digitalisation, cyber security and advanced computing, counter-terrorism, climate change, renewable and sustainable growth and development, among others. India and France have a strong, robust defence partnership, with an increasing 'Atmanirbharata' element. Defence cooperation between the two sides is reviewed under the Annual Defence Dialogue (Defence Minister-level) and the High Committee on Defence Cooperation (Secretary-level). The 5th Annual Ministerial-level Annual Defence Dialogue was held in October 2023 in Paris. The HCDC meeting was held in Paris in November 2021. Major ongoing defence-related projects include the purchase of Rafale aircraft and the P-75 Scorpene Project. Other potential new areas of collaboration being pursued include the codevelopment of next-generation fighter-plane engines. An office of the DRDO was also opened at the Embassy in 2023 to strengthen technology cooperation between India and France. (ANI)
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