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Hello Jammu News at 4:05:00 PM 0


Washington, June 10 :  The photo of Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron planting an oak tree in the garden of the White House symbolized the friendship shown by the two leaders.

But relations between them have since frayed -- over issues ranging from Iran to trade -- and the tree, a diplomatic source said this week, did not survive.

The French president offered the young oak to Trump on the occasion of a state visit to Washington in 2018, and the two shoveled dirt around it under the watchful eyes of their wives -- and cameras from around the world.

It was a symbolic gesture: the tree came from a northern French forest where 2,000 US Marines died during the First World War.

But a few days later, the tree was nowhere to be seen, having disappeared into quarantine.

"It is a quarantine which is mandatory for any living organism imported into the US," Gerard Araud, then the French ambassador to America, wrote on Twitter, adding that it would be replanted later.

But it was never replanted: the tree died during its quarantine, the diplomatic source said.   [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 11:39:00 AM 0


Paris, Oct 11 (PTI) In the midst of a massive controversy over the Rafale deal, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday held wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen strategic and defence cooperation between the two countries.


The talks were held under the framework of the annual Indo-French defence ministerial dialogue which was agreed to during the summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in March.

Official sources said the two defence ministers held a one-on-one meeting followed by delegation level talks, covering a range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interests.

They said both sides deliberated on co-production of military platforms and weapons by the two countries besides expanding cooperation between their armed forces, particularly in the maritime domain.

It was not immediately known whether the Rafale deal figured in the talks or not.

Sitharaman's visit to France came in the backdrop of a huge controversy over the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation.

In a report Wednesday, French publication Mediapart said Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale, had to choose Ambani's firm Reliance Defence as its offsets partner in India as a trade-off for getting the deal. 

When asked about the allegations, Sitharaman said that offset obligations for the deal are mandatory but not the names of the companies.

The latest report followed former French President Francois Hollande's comments last month that France was given "no choice" on selection of the Indian partner for Dassault and the Indian government proposed the name of the Indian company. Hollande was French president when the Rafale deal was sealed.

Officials said Sitharaman will visit a Rafale manufacturing facility near Paris on Friday to take stock of progress in their production. 

Earlier this year, France was pitching for starting negotiations for procurement of another batch of 36 Rafale jets by India. However, New Delhi was not keen on pursuing it.

In April, the Indian Air Force started the process to acquire a fleet of 114 fighter jets and Dassault Aviation has emerged as one of the key contenders for the contract.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after talks with the then French President Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris. The final deal was sealed on September 23, 2016.

The Congress has been alleging massive irregularities in the deal, saying the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government when it was negotiating the deal.

The Congress has also been targeting the government over selection of Reliance Defence as an offset partner for Dassault.

The government has vehemently rejected the allegations and asserted that it did not have any role in the selection of Reliance Defence.

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Hello Jammu News at 12:59:00 PM 0
Paris, Jun 19 : India and France are working to shape a strong development partnership, including in the fields of science and technology, clean energy and infrastructure, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said as she met the country's top leadership and discussed issues of mutual interest from a strategic perspective.


Swaraj, who arrived here from Rome yesterday on the second leg of her four-nation tour, called on French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed follow up to the understandings reached during his visit to India in March this year. 

She also met her French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and the two leaders held in-depth and constructive discussions on full range of bilateral relationship, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

"Our trade, capital and technology partnerships are registering impressive growth. Bilateral trade touched Euros 9.85 billion (or USD 10.95 billion) last year. But, we need to do more to reach the set target of trade in goods to 15 billion Euros by 2022," Swaraj was quoted as saying by Kumar.

"India and France are also working to shape a strong development partnership, including in the fields of smart urbanisation, science & technology, clean energy, transportation, and infrastructure sectors," she said.

She said the visits of Prime Minister Modi to France in April 2015 and June 2017 and Macron to India have infused new momentum and dynamism to bilateral strategic partnership, brought about increased political convergence and built deep mutual trust.



Swaraj also met Philippe Etienne, Diplomatic Advisor to Macron, and exchanged views on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest from a strategic perspective. 

India and France are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their Strategic Partnership.
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