French foreign minister in India to boost tech relations

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is on a 3-day visit to India, will be in this tech hub on Thursday for promoting bilateral relations in science and technology, an official said on Wednesday.</p>
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"On his day-long visit to the city, Le Drian will announce contribution of France to India's human space flight programme 'Gaganyaan' at the human space flight centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the city," said a French consulate official in a statement here.</p>
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Le Drian will also interact with the state-run ISRO's chairman K. Sivan and human space flight centre director S. Unnikrishnan Nair on the occasion.</p>
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"In the space cooperation over the decades, France and India worked on many missions, including the operational climate research satellites," said the official.</p>
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The Indo-French Oceansat3-Argos mission will be launched soon, while a third joint satellite Trishna is in the development phase.</p>
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"The thermal infrared orbiter will be the first to monitor temperature of earth on a global and constant basis, with very high accuracy," said the statement.</p>
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France is also keen to strengthen dialogue with India on emerging space security issues.</p>
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Le Drian will also visit Bangalore Life Sciences cluster, with National Centre for Biological Sciences, the Centre for cellular and molecular platforms and the Institute of Stem cell science and regenerative medicine.</p>
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"Besides highlighting the cooperation between the two countries on health, life sciences and biotechnology, Le Drian will hold talks with heads of National Centre for Biological Life Sciences and French companies in the city," added the official.</p>
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Le Drian will meet investors and top executives of major business groups to showcase his country as an attractive business destination for Indian firms, which are choosing France as their gateway to the EU (European Union) market, especially in the context of Brexit.</p>
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<em>(IANS)</em></p>