What happened?
On September 12, 2025, India and France held the 17th meeting of their Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism in Paris. Delegations led by KD Dewal, Joint Secretary (Counter-Terrorism) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, and Olivier Caron, France’s Counter-Terrorism Ambassador, reviewed counter-terrorism challenges, exchanged threat assessments and discussed ways to broaden bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Both sides strongly condemned the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and assessed issues such as state-sponsored cross-border terrorism, extremist activities in their regions and the evolving threat in the Middle East. They also addressed the use of emerging technologies by terrorists, radicalisation and other new challenges to security.
Why it matters to India
The meeting underlined the importance of close coordination with France—one of India’s key strategic partners—in combating terrorism and extremism at both bilateral and multilateral levels. By expanding the scope of their dialogue to include organised crime, online propaganda, cyber threats and enhanced capacity-building through training and exercises, India strengthens its global counter-terrorism network, reinforces its security architecture and consolidates support for its positions in forums such as the UN and FATF.