India, France agree to enhance bilateral cooperation

India and France Thursday agreed to deepen cooperation in combating piracy and terrorism, reported local media. Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna discussed a host of bilateral issues with his French counterpart Alain Juppe here that also included civil nuclear cooperation and expanded cooperation in defense and civilian space. The two foreign ministers discussed regional and global issues, including the international financial crisis, terrorism, the Syrian crisis, climate change and UN reforms. The two sides also decided to scale up their bilateral trade to 12 billion euros by 2012. Juppe, who began Thursday for a three-day official visit to India, told Krishna about stringent safety standards followed by French nuclear giant Areva which is discussing with Indian nuclear companies for building two 1,650 MW reactors in Jaitapur, western India. Krishna said the Indian government was committed to Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, despite recent controversy over a Russian- built nuclear plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.