During French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to New Delhi on Friday, India and France finalised a number of other strategically significant agreements, including their defence industrial plan.
At a news conference held here, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra stated that the new roadmap is anticipated to facilitate collaboration between the French and Indian military sectors on projects that need for cooperative development and manufacturing. Among other areas, the focus will be on robots, artificial intelligence, space, marine, and ground combat. The path would be followed, as agreed upon by New Delhi and Paris, when Prime Minister Modi visited France in July 2023.
A letter of intent to further defence space cooperation was also agreed upon by both parties. Enhancing space situational awareness is the aim, according to Kwatra, in order to avoid space collisions as well as other operations like remote sensing and earth monitoring. An agreement was also inked by New Space India Ltd (NSIL) with Arianespace of France concerning satellite launch capability.
Additionally, Kwatra said that Tata and Airbus will be establishing a final assembly line (FAL) in India to produce H125 helicopters. The two businesses also intend to sell the helicopter to nearby nations. According to Airbus, the action advances the “Make in India” initiative.
Nevertheless, no significant news regarding the acquisition of Indian-made Scorpene submarines or Rafale fighter planes was made during the visit. In answer to questions on the status of the deals, Kwatra stated, “The visits are not focused on individual transactions.”
In Jaipur, Modi and Macron discussed bilateral relations as well as other local and international concerns. The talks also touched on the continuing problem in the Red Sea and the war in Ukraine.
The prospective and actual problems occurring in the maritime domain of the Red Sea that are impeding commercial shipping are a major worry, and both presidents directed their attention towards it, according to Kwatra.
In addition, he said that a five-year Schengen visa provision for Indian students finishing their master’s degree in France will be implemented and verified that an agreement on mobility for young professionals had been achieved.
Paris and New Delhi also discussed the incident surrounding Vanessa Dougnac, a French journalist. The Indian government allegedly asked Dougnac to explain why her OCI card shouldn’t be revoked in response to allegations of “malicious” reporting. Kwatra confirmed that the matter had been discussed by the two sides.
During the visit, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar also had a meeting with his colleague, Stephane Sejourne. A group of forty people accompanied Macron. He was the principal guest at India’s 75th Republic Day parade on Friday. Macron is the fourth French President to be the main guest at the festivities and the fifth French leader to be awarded this privilege. In addition, Macron made his third trip to India with stops in 2018 and 2023.
