New Delhi - India's military isolation following last year's nuclear tests is easing. France is holding hold joint naval manoeuvres with the Indian navy next month and Britain wants to resume meetings of the joint defence consultative group between the two countries, writes Rahul Bedi.
The three-day Indo-French naval manoeuvres off India's west coast in the Arabian sea are India's first with a UN security council member after last May's nuclear tests.
Meanwhile, the British Defence Secretary, Mr George Robertson, who met Mr Jaswant Singh, India's Foreign Minister and chief nuclear negotiator, in London recently, said the UK wanted to resume meetings of the Indo-British joint defence consultative group halted abruptly after the nuclear tests.
The defence consultative group includes senior defence officials from both countries, alternating between London and Delhi.