17th Meeting of the India-France Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism

The 17th Meeting of the India-France Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter Terrorism (CT) was held in Paris, France on 11 September 2025. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (CT), Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India, Mr. K.D. Dewal, and the French delegation, by Mr. Olivier Caron, French Counter-Terrorism Ambassador.

2. Both sides condemned the dastardly terrorist attack on innocent civilians on 22 April 2025 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The two sides exchanged views on the current threat assessment in the respective countries, including State-sponsored cross-border terrorism, activities of terrorists in the respective regions and the terror threat in the Middle East.

3. Both sides also assessed the counter terrorism challenges, including combating extremism/radicalization and the threat posed by the use of new technologies by terrorists.

4. The discussion on bilateral and multilateral cooperation focused on intensifying capacity-building measures through training and exercises. The two sides discussed cooperation in the UN, FATF and NMFT.

5. The two sides further discussed broadening the scope of India-France CT dialogue to include organized crimes; combating online propaganda as a focused bilateral effort; and exchanging information and sharing of experience on matters of mutual concern and interest, including cyber-related threats.

6. The two sides agreed to hold the 18th Meeting of the Joint Working Group in India on a mutually-convenient date.

Paris
September 11, 2025