Indian counter-terror team to help France with Paris Olympics

India is all set to provide its expertise to France in counter security measures during the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Paris in July, 2024, said officials aware of the matter.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) along with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had detailed discussions with their French counterparts with two sides mutually agreeing to send a delegation of counter terror and homeland security experts to Paris ahead of the mega event.

The Indian presence will help in sharing best practices with France in handling terrorism and extremism which is on the rise in Europe and deemed crucial amid important events in Paris this year, a source said. India will be part of an international contingent of like-minded countries for the exercise.


India and France have been long-standing strategic partners since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1947, and the upgrading of the partnership to the strategic level in 1998. The two sides completed 25 years of strategic partnership last year which includes the areas of defence and security cooperation, space cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation, according to officials.

"India has unearthed several Islamic State (IS) and Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) modules across India with their international linkages. The elite National Security Guards along with other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) successfully conducted G-20 events in the national capital," according to North Block officials. France, on the other hand, has witnessed a string of terrorist attacks since 2020, most notably the 'Paris stabbing attack' in September and beheading of Samuel Paty in October 2020.

France has consistently condemned terrorism and following the Pulwama attack of February 2019, France supported India and nationally listed the Pakistan-based 'global terrorist' Hafiz Saeed, which was followed up with the listing at the UN, official added. "France has also supported India's requests to block attempts by Pakistan to enlist innocent Indian citizens under the UNSC 1267 sanctions committee based on fabricated charges," added another official.