India – Visit by Mr. Laurent Fabius (June 30 to July 1, 2014)
Libya – Parliamentary elections (June 26, 2014)
Death penalty – Adoption of a UN Human Rights Council resolution (Geneva, June 26, 2014)
India – Visit by Mr. Laurent Fabius (June 30 to July 1, 2014)
Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, will visit India (New Delhi and Mumbai) from June 30 to July 1 in order to meet the new Indian government. He will be received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will have meetings with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance and Defense Minister Arun Jaitley.
This visit will provide an opportunity to reaffirm the importance we attach to strengthening the French-Indian strategic partnership. This partnership is exceptional in the degree of confidence that underpins it and its level of ambition.
During these meetings, Mr. Laurent Fabius will address key international issues and our major projects in the areas of defense, civil nuclear energy, space and security. He will discuss the development of trade, possible partnerships with Indian companies, cross-investment as well as the development of tourism links. The discussions will also provide an opportunity to address the strengthening of our academic and scientific exchanges.
Mr. Laurent Fabius will also discuss the need to combat climate change; France would like to work closely with India on this issue in preparation for the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. He will participate in a round table on this topic with India’s minister of state for the environment.
Libya – Parliamentary elections (June 26, 2014)
France welcomes the holding, on the scheduled date, of the elections to replace the General National Congress.
These elections are an important milestone in Libya's democratic transition toward building a stronger democratic institutional system based on the rule of law.
We commend the efforts of the High National Election Commission to ensure that the elections were held in almost all parts of the country.
Death penalty – Adoption of a UN Human Rights Council resolution (Geneva, June 26, 2014)
On France’s initiative, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a strong resolution on the death penalty on June 26.
For the first time, a text adopted by the UN deplores the human rights violations resulting from the use of the death penalty. This an important step forward.
The resolution will ensure that the topic of the death penalty will always be included in the Human Rights Council’s agenda. High level meetings will take place every two years in order to make progress toward abolishing this inhuman punishment.
Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, will participate in September in New York in a high level event on the death penalty organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights during the ministerial week at the United Nations General Assembly.