External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has discussed economic cooperation and regional developments with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan on the sidelines of the EU Ministerial Forum on Indo-Pacific in Paris.
Mr. Jaishankar, who arrived in Paris from Germany on Sunday on a three-day visit to France, has held a series of meetings with his counterparts from other Indo-Pacific countries participating in the EU Indo-Pacific Forum.
“Met Singapore FM @VivianBala on the sidelines of the EU Ministerial Forum on Indo-Pacific. Exchanged views on the forum deliberations. Our talks also covered travel arrangements, economic cooperation and regional developments,” he said in a tweet on Feb. 22.
Mr. Jaishankar arrived in Paris on a day when French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a marathon telephonic conversation to defuse the crisis in Ukraine amid apprehension of a Russian invasion of the eastern European nation.
On Sunday, Mr. Jaishankar held wide-ranging talks with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian during which they discussed key regional and global issues, particularly the India-EU relationship, and exchanged perspectives on the situation in Afghanistan, the Iranian nuclear deal and the Ukraine crisis.
Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Drian also reiterated their shared commitment to the principles of multilateralism and a rules-based order, and agreed to coordinate in the U.N. Security Council on issues of mutual concern.
