Paris [France]: National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval and French Defence Minister Florence Parly on Saturday discussed ways to expand bilateral and regional cooperation.

Both the leaders also discussed how to deal with new threats and extended support to India's defence industrialisation and self-reliance, said the Indian Embassy in Paris on Saturday.

"A major defence and security partnership for Indo Pacific and beyond. French Defence Minister @florence_parly and NSA of India Ajit Doval discussed ways to expand bilateral and regional cooperation; deal with new threats; and support India's defence industrialisation and self-reliance," the Embassy tweeted.

According to an official statement, both India and France agreed to strengthen bilateral defence and security partnership through enhanced intelligence and information sharing, operational cooperation, bolstering mutual capabilities, expanding bilateral exercises and pursuing new initiatives in maritime, space and cyber domains.

France reiterated its commitment to fully support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and defence industrialisation, joint research and technology development in India across a wide range of advanced capabilities, based on long-standing cooperation and mutual trust.

Building on the successful India-France initiative on International Solar Alliance, the two sides stressed the need to accelerate cooperation in clean energy, including civil nuclear energy and green hydrogen, a release said.

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