France welcomes Modi’s proposal for global conference against terrorism

New Delhi, June 11 (IANS) France on Monday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a global conference to tackle terrorism which will discuss ways to end loopholes that are exploited by terrorists for their nefarious designs.

French Minister of State for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean Baptiste Lemoyne said on the sidelines of an event that every single initiative to fight against terrorism was welcome.

"In this century, terrorism is threat for every single country in the world. We have seen that terrorist are threatening in Africa, Europe, in Asia. So I think everything that can be done to unite efforts is welcome and it is a global challenge as climate change," he said.

He was responding to a query about Modi's proposal for a global conference against terrorism on the lines of global cooperation to tackle climate change.

Modi had said during his visit to Maldives on Saturday that he expects the world organisations and leading countries will hold a global conference against terrorism in a time-bound manner so that the loopholes that are exploited by terrorists and their supporters are plugged.

He had said that If there was delay, the coming generations "will not forgive us".

Answering a query on India-France defence partnership, Lemoyne said it was strong and refferred to collaboration in production of submarines and India acquiring Rafale jets.

He said that the first Rafale jet will be delivered in September and it will be a signal of the effectiveness of the cooperation. "Then 36 Rafale will be delivered one by one and I think it is very good news for close cooperation," he said.

"We are committed in cooperation because we are part of the same era - this Indo-Pacific era," he added.