Talks on terror, climate change to be focus of Hollande visit

Talks on terror, climate change and smart cities will be the highlights of the upcoming visit of President Francois Hollande, French Ambassador Francois Richier said on Friday even as he dismissed a "letter threat" to the visit as the work of probably an "excited gentleman".

He lauded the security forces in Delhi for working with French officials closely to prevent any attack on the visiting delegation but said it was "sad" that the threat letter had been leaked. On the visit of Hollande starting this Sunday, the ambassador said the focus that he foresees is mostly in three domains.

"Highlight will be terrorism in view of the situation we are in at present, state of emergency, military operations in Syria, Iraq and in Africa. Situation in India," he said. Richie  said both France and India want to defend common interests and values.

"This is an occasion not only to remind everybody but to pull certain number of steps in this direction of combating terrorism and this will be high on the agenda," he said talking to reporters at his residence.

Describing the security forces in Delhi as very competent, Richier said he was grateful to the security apparatus in the capital for working closely with the French to prevent any action on the visiting delegation. "It is working very well.

They are very competent". Asked about the threat letter against Hollande's visit to India received by the French consulate in Bengaluru yesterday, he said, "I think it is sad that it has leaked. We are looking into this."

He said the French authorities are "accustomed" to having received leaflets like that. "We receive plenty of them. Generally, it is to create disorder, to raise the attention of the media. They have never proved to be true threats," he said.

However, he noted that they are still looking into the latest letter received by them. "I cannot say it is not a true one but there is nothing at the moment which leads us to believe that it is real threat. That is another excited gentleman... it is not a specific threat.

"It is a paper which claims to be on behalf of a terror organisation. But I cannot say that there is a threat here. It may very simply be the kind of paper that we receive very regularly from some people with strange mind who want to create a media event. That is probably the reason why it is leaked," he said. Richier said that French are anyway under threat across the world.