India and France will hold the 36th strategic dialogue in Delhi on Thursday for which French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic advisor and G20/G7 Sherpa Emmanuel Bonne will be in the Indian capital. National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will lead the Indian side having travelled to Paris in 2021 for the last iteration of the dialogue.

The annual dialogue will focus on issues like Indo-Pacific, Afghanistan, G20, defence cooperation, counter-terrorism, and other issues.

Bonne is the first foreign official to travel to Delhi in 2023, a year that will see India host big-ticket summits like the G20 and SCO.

The fact that he is also France’s G20 sherpa means a key focus will be on the Indian presidency of the grouping. India as the president of the grouping will hold the summit later this year in September. 

In his day-long visit, Bonne is expected to meet other top officials as well. The 52 years old top French diplomat was in Delhi in 2021 and called on PM Modi.

The visit comes in a year when the French President is also expected to visit India and which marks the 25th anniversary of the Indo-French strategic partnership, launched in 1998.

Defence cooperation, space cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation constitute the three principal pillars of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Ahead of the visit, both sides have also been discussing ways to speed up the setting up of the civilian nuclear power reactors at Jaitapur, Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.