Highlights
- PM Modi expressed India's solidarity with France in dealing with wildfires
- The leaders also reviewed ongoing bilateral initiatives including defence cooperation projects
- They expressed satisfaction at the depth and strength that the India-France Strategic Partnership
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday and conveyed India's solidarity with France amid the ongoing drought and wildfires.
The leaders also reviewed ongoing bilateral initiatives including defence cooperation projects and cooperation in civil nuclear energy between the two nations. They also discussed important geopolitical challenges including those related to global food security.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the depth and strength that the India-France Strategic Partnership has acquired in recent years and agreed to continue working closely together to expand the relationship to new areas of cooperation.
France battles wildfires amid heatwave
Earlier in the month, a major wildfire burned a large area of pine forest in southwestern France. A major highway near the French city of Bordeaux was also closed. Photos released by firefighters showed flames raging through pine forests overnight, sending clouds of smoke in the air and illuminating the sky with intense orange light.
Climate change is exacerbating conditions as hotter temperatures speed up evaporation, thirsty plants take in more moisture and reduced snowfall in the winter limits supplies of fresh water available for irrigation in the summer.
ALSO READ | Heatwave continues in France, triggering drought alert
ALSO READ | Europe Heatwave: Fires ravage French forests near Atlantic as continent heats up | Photos
