The Union Cabinet was apprised about a pact signed between two health bodies of India and France, which aims at cooperation in medical, life sciences and health research sectors including diabetes and metabolic disorders.

The pact also aims at cooperation in bio-ethics with focus on ethics and regulatory issues of gene editing techniques and rare diseases.

"The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been apprised of an MoU which was signed in March, 2018 between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Institut National de la Santeet de la RechercheMedicale (INSERM), France," an official statement said.

The MoU will further strengthen relations between ICMR and INSERM within the framework of international scientific and technological cooperation in fields of mutual interest, it said.

"The MoU aims at cooperation in areas of common interest within the medical, life sciences and health research fields. Based on scientific excellence on both sides, the parties have agreed to have a specific focus upon: Diabetes and metabolic disorders, bio-ethics with focus on ethics and regulatory issues of gene editing techniques, rare diseases and any other areas of mutual interest can be considered after discussions between the two sides," it said.

The scientific excellence on two sides will help to successfully work on health research in specified areas, it added.