[3] After the Cold War, France's foreign policy has been noted for decades for its special Gaullist flavour, which was not much altered under the long Presidency of socialist François Mitterrand (1981-1995).

[3] The relations again suffered many set back in 1998-99 when Paris saw the Kargil episode as a dangerous Pakistan initiative, considering the new nuclearised regional context.

[3] The PAF is the largest customer of France's aerospace industry with numbers of fighter and civilian aircraft having been sold to Pakistan since 1967 till the 2000s.

While, the officials at Islamabad termed it as "significant move", the Foreign service office maintained that: "France has agreed to transfer civilian nuclear technology to Pakistan.

"[4] The French Foreign ministry had confirmed that the country was ready, within the framework of its international agreements, to "co-operate with Pakistan" in the field of nuclear safety.

[7] In 2020, thousands of protesters opposing France's defense of freedom of speech held rallies in cities across Pakistan, against the re-publishing of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammed, including publishing controversial images.