London: France and Britain vowed to turn their "entente cordiale" into an "entente amicale", working together on issues from tackling the global credit crunch to fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking yesterday at a Franco-British summit in London, agreed to hold more regular meetings to coordinate policy.

"We will turn the entente cordiale into the entente amicale ," said Brown, referring to the 104-year-old "cordial relationship" that has been strained in recent years, notably over Britain's participation in the 2003 Iraq war.

"We believe that working together France and Britain can be an even greater force for good," he added as Sarkozy looked on, saying it could even become an "entente formidable" - a wonderful relationship.

As the pair toured English Premier League side Arsenal's north London stadium - jokingly referred to as the unofficial French embassy because of the high number of French players - there were further signs of warmer relations.

Britain's defence ministry announced it had awarded a 26-billion-dollar deal to replace the country's air refuelling tankers to a European consortium led by the aerospace group EADS.

In a joint statement, Brown and Sarkozy, who is on a state visit, agreed to boost cooperation on tackling climate change, securing peace in Darfur, Myanmar and the Middle East, as well as calling for "restraint and dialogue" in China over Tibet.

Source : PTI