India – Visit by Catherine Colonna (Mar. 1-3, 2023)

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna will take part in the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting that will be held in New Delhi on March 2, under the Indian presidency.

As the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine continue to endanger energy and food security as well as the most vulnerable countries’ access to financing, the ministers will discuss their collective responses to these challenges in line with the commitments taken at the G20 summit in Bali last November. Ms. Colonna will express support for the Indian presidency’s efforts to ensure that the G20 continues to speak with one voice on the war in Ukraine, to denounce the consequence of that war and to call for the restoration of peace in keeping with the principles of the UN Charter, despite opposition from two members of the group. She will call for the G20 countries to share responsibility in order to meet the needs of populations most heavily impacted by the consequences of the war.

In the face of the worsening climate crisis, Ms. Colonna will invite her G20 counterparts to promote a more ambitious approach to financing sustainable development and the climate ahead of the June Summit for a new Global Financial Pact announced by President Macron. This summit will be hosted by France, in close cooperation with the Indian G20 presidency. She will urge the G20 countries to continue making concrete progress on decarbonizing their economies and to fully implement the agreement reached at the Kunming-Montreal COP15 on protecting biodiversity.

On this second visit to India by Minister Colonna, she will pay a bilateral visit to Delhi on March 2 that will focus on people-to-people exchanges. She will emphasize how much France values its relationship with India, a country with which we have a major strategic partnership that is marking its 25^th anniversary this year.

The minister will meet with her Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar, to discuss major international issues and our joint initiatives in the Indo-Pacific, and to review various aspects of our partnership. She will also meet with the Indian minister of culture to discuss the new National Museum project. She will unveil the Villa Swagatam initiative, an India-wide artist residency program; she will attend an event on gender equality; and she will launch an exchange program for talented French and Indian young people.

Greece – Train accident (Mar. 1, 2023)

France offers its condolences to the families of the victims of the train accident in Larissa, Greece, which took the lives of several dozen people and left many injured.

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna was deeply saddened to extend her heartfelt sympathy to her Greek counterpart this morning following that terrible accident.

France stands with Greece and expresses its solidarity with the Greek people and authorities.