The Hindu : French Minister's visit to strengthen defence ties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 24, 2003

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French Minister's visit to strengthen defence ties

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI APRIL 23. The French Defence Minister, Michele Allint Marie, arrives here this weekend as the head of a high-level military and armament industry delegation. Sharing regional security concerns and enjoying a close working military relationship, the visit comes at a time when India is also considering multi-billion dollar armament purchases from consortia dominated by French companies.

Apart from discussing the security situation in the aftermath of the Iraq war with George Fernandes, the visiting Defence Minister is expected to push for the sale of French fighter jets and submarines. India is keen on a technology transfer deal for acquisition and manufacture of advanced versions of Mirage fighters to fill the breach between phasing of ageing MiG series and the delay in the induction of the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA).

Mr. Fernandes said recently that while MiG fighters would remain the mainstay of the fleet, the IAF had proposed the purchase of 140 to 150 fighters. According to Defence Ministry sources, the leading contenders include the French Dassault (Mirage-2000-V), Lockheed Martin (F-16) and the Russians with (MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI).

While the race for fighters is technically wide open, the French are virtually on the home stretch in case of submarines. New Delhi has rejected criticism regarding corruption and proximity and has short-listed a public sector French company for manufacturing six Scorpene class submarines.

At the policy level, security-related discussions take place annually as part of one of the five consultative mechanisms set up since the late 90s to further bilateral cooperation. The committee on security last met in November 2002 to discuss strategic issues, industrial cooperation for military hardware and military cooperation. These issues will again form the core of discussions between the French delegation and the Indian side during the French Defence Minister's visit.

On the military side, although India and the U.S. have been in the news for holding several joint exercises involving special forces and transport aircraft, France was selected for the Indian Air Force's first-ever joint exercises involving fighter aircraft held in February this year. Commonality of equipment in the form of Mirage fighters naturally played a role but the impetus must have also come from continuing bilateral naval ties which were not derailed even in the aftermath of Pokhran.

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