Nice attack came as Delhi, Paris talked joint battle

NEW DELHI: The terror attack in the French Riviera in Nice last Thursday that killed over 80 came at a time when Delhi and Paris were discussing a proposal for a fresh joint counter-terror exercise between India’s elite National Security Guards (NSG) and its French counterpart GIGN as part of the intensified counter-terror initiatives to fight foreign terrorist fighters.

The two countries decided to expand their counter-terror partnership to cover a huge ambit amid common threats including rise of Islamic State and global radicialisation trend, said officials aware of the matter, adding a new joint counter-terror exercise between NSG and GIGN are on cards.

Both NSG and GIGN have similar mandates to fight terror groups and close partnership between these two agencies to share best practices and experiences have been necessitated following spate of terror attacks, officials pointed out.