In a bid to enhance military ties between the two countries, French Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud will be on a four-day visit to India starting Saturday.
The French Admiral is scheduled to hold meetings with top brass of Indian military including his counterpart Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and Army chief General V K Singh, a French Embassy release said here.
Admiral Guillaud will also hold high-level discussions with National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon along with other senior officials.
He is also scheduled to go to Mumbai and meet Western Naval Commander Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin there, it added.
Admiral Guillaud will also visit the Mazagon Dockyards Limited, where India is building its six conventional submarines with French shipbuilding company DCNS.
The visit of the French defence chief comes at a time when the two countries are going to sign a deal expected to be worth over USD two billion for upgrading the 50 Mirage-2000 aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
France, which won the over Rs 18,000-crore deal for building six Scorpene submarines in 2005, is also one of the contenders for the Rs 30,000-crore contract for building another six submarines.
French aircraft manufacturer Dassault is also in the race for the deal for supplying 126 multi-role combat aircraft to the IAF and has offered its Rafale fighters.
