On the sidelines of #UNGA, 🇫🇷Minister @MinColonna participated this week in two trilateral meetings (with 🇮🇳 & 🇦🇪, then 🇮🇳 & 🇦🇺). Formats revealing of French strategic positioning in the #Indopacific. 1 / 6 
First on Monday with @DrJaishankar & @ABZayed, for a trilateral dialogue upgraded to Ministerial level for the 1st time. The 3 countries aspire to be key security stakeholders and ‘balancing powers’ for the #IndianOcean
Second today with @DrJaishankar & @SenatorWong, resumption of a trilateral format that did not convene since #AUKUS. It shows that water passed under the bridge with 🇦🇺, thanks to the change of Government(s), with both sides showing willingness to repair ties
These meetings were announced during @MinColonna visit to 🇮🇳. Their formats confirm the central role of 🇮🇳, thanks to ‘strategic affinities’: clear-eyed on the 🇨🇳 challenge while championing ‘strategic autonomy’
They are also indicative of 🇫🇷 geostrategic priorities: 1/ Northern Indian Ocean, key to secure SLoCs vital for Europe and access to 🇫🇷 territories in Southern IO. 🇫🇷 has 2 military bases in the region, in 🇦🇪 & 🇩🇯, and the 🇦🇪 are also HQ for the European operation @EMASoH_AGENOR
2/ South Pacific, where 🇫🇷 has +1M citizens and around 75% of its EEZ (2nd in the world) thanks to its overseas territories. The more conducive bilateral relationship with 🇦🇺 allows for a ‘back to basics’ for 🇫🇷, whose initial intent was to build a 'Paris-Delhi-Canberra axis' 6/6
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