During his visit to France, Jaishankar will be participating in the inaugural edition of the Mediterranean Rasina Dialogue which is being held in Marseille.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar left on Sunday (June 8, 2025) for a week-long visit to France and Belgium, where he will meet with his counterparts in both governments and in the European Commission and European Parliament headquartered in Brussels.
This is his third visit to Europe in the past few months, and a part of the government’s efforts to step up its diplomatic engagement post Operation Sindoor to garner support for India’s fight against terrorism.
“The visit of EAM is expected to further deepen India’s friendly relations with the European Union, France and Belgium and give renewed momentum to ongoing cooperation in diverse areas,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing the visit from June 8 to 14. In March, Mr. Jaishankar had travelled to the U.K. and Ireland, and in May, he had visited the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
The Ministry said that in France, Mr. Jaishankar will visit Paris for bilateral talks with French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barrot, and to Marseille to address the “Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue”, a conference of the Ministry and Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Marseille is one of the European ports along with Trieste, Italy, and Piraeus, Greece that are in the running for the India-Middle East-Europe-Economic Corridor (IMEC) route, and although ambitions for the project launched in 2023 have been dimmed due to the Israel-Gaza conflict, New Delhi is keen to keep discussions on it alive.
In Brussels, he will hold a “Strategic Dialogue” with EU High Representative and Vice-President Kaja Kallas, the Ministry said. Mr. Jaishankar will also meet Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot for talks on bilateral issues and is expected to raise India’s request for the repatriation of diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, who is under arrest pending a trial for extradition to India to face charges of fraud and embezzlement. Also on the agenda is the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks that both sides have committed to sign by the end of the year.
On each of his stops, as he had with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who visited Delhi on Saturday (June 7, 2025), Mr. Jaishankar is expected to discuss India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack, with strikes on Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. He will also request support for India’s fight against terrorism at multilateral organisations, including the United Nations, the U.N. Security Council and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
During his visits to Paris and Brussels, Mr. Jaishankar will also lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meetings during his upcoming visit to Canada as a special invitee to the G-7 summit in Kananaskis Alberta.
Apart from G-7 members, including French President Emmanuel Macron and the EU leadership who will attend the main summit on June 15 and 16, Mr. Modi will attend the G-7 outreach on June 17 along with leaders of Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Ukraine.
In addition, sources said officials were finalising refuelling stopovers for Mr. Modi to and from Canada where he could also hold bilateral meetings. According to the sources, Cyprus, as a sharp political message given its rivalry with Türkiye is being considered as one of the stopovers.
Diplomats have also been trying to reschedule Mr. Modi’s visit to Norway for the Nordic Summit with Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and Sweden that was cancelled in May as Operation Sindoor was underway, but coordinating with the five countries may require more time, officials said. Meanwhile, the Netherlands, which was also on the Prime Minister’s cancelled tour, is headed for elections as the ruling coalition collapsed over immigration issues, while a rescheduled visit to the third country he was due to visit, Croatia, remains on the cards.
Mr. Jaishankar will end his tour in time for the G-7 summit in Canada, although it is unclear whether he will attend. He is also due to travel to Washington for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in early July and could accompany PM Modi to the BRICS summit in Rio De Janeiro on July 5-6.
Jaishankar steps up diplomatic moves in Europe on week-long visit to France and Belgium
During his visit to France, Jaishankar will be participating in the inaugural edition of the Mediterranean Rasina Dialogue which is being held in Marseille.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar left on Sunday (June 8, 2025) for a week-long visit to France and Belgium, where he will meet with his counterparts in both governments and in the European Commission and European Parliament headquartered in Brussels.
This is his third visit to Europe in the past few months, and a part of the government’s efforts to step up its diplomatic engagement post Operation Sindoor to garner support for India’s fight against terrorism.
“The visit of EAM is expected to further deepen India’s friendly relations with the European Union, France and Belgium and give renewed momentum to ongoing cooperation in diverse areas,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing the visit from June 8 to 14. In March, Mr. Jaishankar had travelled to the U.K. and Ireland, and in May, he had visited the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
The Ministry said that in France, Mr. Jaishankar will visit Paris for bilateral talks with French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barrot, and to Marseille to address the “Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue”, a conference of the Ministry and Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Marseille is one of the European ports along with Trieste, Italy, and Piraeus, Greece that are in the running for the India-Middle East-Europe-Economic Corridor (IMEC) route, and although ambitions for the project launched in 2023 have been dimmed due to the Israel-Gaza conflict, New Delhi is keen to keep discussions on it alive.
In Brussels, he will hold a “Strategic Dialogue” with EU High Representative and Vice-President Kaja Kallas, the Ministry said. Mr. Jaishankar will also meet Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot for talks on bilateral issues and is expected to raise India’s request for the repatriation of diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, who is under arrest pending a trial for extradition to India to face charges of fraud and embezzlement. Also on the agenda is the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks that both sides have committed to sign by the end of the year.
On each of his stops, as he had with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who visited Delhi on Saturday (June 7, 2025), Mr. Jaishankar is expected to discuss India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack, with strikes on Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. He will also request support for India’s fight against terrorism at multilateral organisations, including the United Nations, the U.N. Security Council and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
During his visits to Paris and Brussels, Mr. Jaishankar will also lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meetings during his upcoming visit to Canada as a special invitee to the G-7 summit in Kananaskis Alberta.
Apart from G-7 members, including French President Emmanuel Macron and the EU leadership who will attend the main summit on June 15 and 16, Mr. Modi will attend the G-7 outreach on June 17 along with leaders of Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Ukraine.
In addition, sources said officials were finalising refuelling stopovers for Mr. Modi to and from Canada where he could also hold bilateral meetings. According to the sources, Cyprus, as a sharp political message given its rivalry with Türkiye is being considered as one of the stopovers.
Diplomats have also been trying to reschedule Mr. Modi’s visit to Norway for the Nordic Summit with Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and Sweden that was cancelled in May as Operation Sindoor was underway, but coordinating with the five countries may require more time, officials said. Meanwhile, the Netherlands, which was also on the Prime Minister’s cancelled tour, is headed for elections as the ruling coalition collapsed over immigration issues, while a rescheduled visit to the third country he was due to visit, Croatia, remains on the cards.
Mr. Jaishankar will end his tour in time for the G-7 summit in Canada, although it is unclear whether he will attend. He is also due to travel to Washington for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in early July and could accompany PM Modi to the BRICS summit in Rio De Janeiro on July 5-6.
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