New Delhi, April 14 -- India and France explored ways to bolster cooperation in key areas such as defence, civil nuclear energy and AI and discussed the situation in West Asia and Ukraine during foreign office consultations in Paris on Monday. The discussions, co-chaired by foreign secretary Vikram Misri and the French foreign ministry secretary-general, Martin Briens, also encompassed cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and joint development projects in third countries, the external affairs ministry said in a readout. Misri also met French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic advisor to the French president. Both sides carried out a review of progress in various facets of bilateral ties, especially in context of the elevation of relations to a special global strategic partnership and President Emmanuel Macron's visit to India in February. The talks covered strategic areas of cooperation such as defence, civil nuclear energy, space, cyber and digital, AI, and initiatives fostering people-to-people exchanges and the two sides reviewed key deliverables....