India and France
today signed an Extradition Treaty which will enable both countries
to extradite criminals and terrorists in the war against terrorism.
This also marks a major step in bilateral relations. The visiting
Deputy Prime Minister, Shri L.K. Advani signed the Treaty on behalf
of India while the French Justice Minister, Shri Dominique Perben
signed it for his country at a ceremony held in capital Paris.
The following is the text of the Speech made by the Home Minister,
Shri L.K. Advani at the Treaty signing ceremony:
"Your Excellency
Mr. Dominique Perben, Minister of Justice of the Republic of France,
Distinguished Members of the two delegations, Ladies and Gentlemen,
For me, it is indeed
a great pleasure to be in France, not only because it is my first
official visit to your great nation, but also because it comes
at a particularly propitious time in the development of bilateral
relations between our two countries.
The meetings I have
had yesterday with the Honourable Ministers for Interior and Defence,
and with His Excellency the Prime Minister of France, have convinced
me of the depth and breadth of our multifaceted ties, and the
mutual desire to add further substance and meaning to them. The
forthcoming visit to India of your Honourable Prime Minister will
provide an apt occasion to further concretize this desire, and
India awaits his arrival with great anticipation.
It is in this wider
context that today’s ceremony assumes signal importance for both
our countries. Not just because an Extradition Treaty will address
the long-felt practical need for expediting mutual cooperation
in an area of common concern, but also because it marks a visible
symbol of our shared determination to address the threats to our
security in a united manner. The security and well-being of our
citizens is our first responsibility as national leaders, and
I have no doubt that the signing of this Treaty will go a long
way in ensuring that terrorist and criminal elements are not able
to escape the due processes of law. This becomes especially relevant
in today’s climate, where civilization stands menaced by the noxious
proliferation of terrorist networks, financed and manned on a
global scale, and aided and abetted by some irresponsible national
regimes. India and France have already developed a close and mutually
beneficial architecture of cooperation to address this scourge,
as is evidenced by our Joint Working Group on Terrorism. Our annual
Strategic Dialogue provides another important forum for this process
of mutual consultation, and permits us to analyse these disquieting
global trends in their wider context.
Similarly, close
collaboration is already being initiated between our law-enforcement
and intelligence gathering agencies, to permit us to track down
the elements who seek to impose their fundamentalist and divisive
visions of the world on our pluralistic and liberal societies.
The Extradition Treaty
that we have just signed will be a logical adjunct to this existing
architecture of reciprocal cooperation. I might mention that we
are also on the verge of finalizing mutual assistance agreements
on criminal and civil matters. Together these treaties and accords
will put in place a powerful panoply of legal instruments to facilitate
our common resolve to ensure security and safety to our peoples.
I would like to thank
you, Your Excellency, as well as the Government and people of
France, for making me feel welcome in your great nation, and for
the efforts that you and your officials have obviously taken to
make my visit meaningful and substantive. The Agreement that we
have just signed will remain, for me, a glowing reminder of the
cordiality and hospitality of the French people, and the richness
and relevance of Indo-French relations.
