External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with his Singaporean colleague, Vivian Balakrishnan, to discuss economic cooperation and regional developments on the margins of the EU Ministerial Forum on the Indo-Pacific in Paris. Mr. Jaishankar, who arrived in Paris from Germany on Sunday for a three-day visit, has met with counterparts from other Indo-Pacific countries participating in the EU Indo-Pacific Forum.
Jaishankar tweeted about his meeting
“I met Singapore’s Foreign Minister @VivianBala on the sidelines of the EU’s Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum. Discussions on the forum’s debates. Our discussions also included travel plans, economic cooperation, and regional developments,” he wrote on Feb. 22 in a tweet.
Mr. Jaishankar came to Paris on the same day that French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a protracted telephone chat aimed at defusing the Ukraine situation amid fears of a Russian invasion.
Mr. Jai shankar met with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday and addressed a range of regional and global topics, including the India-EU partnership, and shared thoughts on the Afghan situation, the Iranian nuclear deal, and the Ukraine crisis. Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Drian also reaffirmed their shared commitment to multilateralism and a rules-based order and agreed to coordinate on topics of common interest at the United Nations Security Council.