Top-level contact is reported to have resumed between the New Caledonian president Louis Mapou and the re-elected French president Emmanuel Macron.

The broadcaster La Premiere reports that Mr Macron wrote a letter to Mr Mapou two weeks ago, assuring him of a continued dialogue while respecting the heritage of the past 30 years.

In a first comment, Mr Mapou notes that Mr Macron has set out perspectives that take into account the country's history and the need to define the institutional future of New Caledonia.

After last December's rejection of independence from France in a referendum boycotted by the pro-independence camp, negotiations on the territory's future status were put off until after the French presidential election.

The pro-independence parties refuse to recognise last year's referendum result as the legitimate outcome of the decolonisation process.

They want direct talks with Paris to attain New Caledonia's sovereignty.

Earlier this month, Mr Macron appointed a new government that is tasked with working towards a referendum in a year when New Caledonia is expected to vote on a new statute reintegrating the territory into France.

La Premiere reports that Mr Mapou may travel to France in July to meet the new French government, including the overseas minister Yael Braun-Pivet.