France's Ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont has said that the civilian nuclear cooperation between France and India is making good progress.
“We have [French firms] Areva and Alstom [through its Indian subsidiary] discussing with NPCIL [Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited] on the construction of two latest generation nuclear reactors called EPR [European Pressurised Reactor]. The process is long and complex, but we are making good progress,” he said during an interaction with the media on board French Navy's amphibious landing helicopter dock (LHD) ‘Tonnerre' here on Friday. (Last year, Areva inked pacts with NPCIL for the construction of nuclear reactors and supply of uranium).
Mr. Bonnafont said that since the signing of the civilian nuclear agreement in September 2008, both countries had been discussing nuclear partnership in research and development, training and in industrial cooperation.
Asked about the delay in finalising the price for the upgrade of India's French-made Mirage 2000 aircraft, he said: “There is negotiation which I believe is in the final stages and we hope very soon the modernisation of these aircraft which I think are providing excellent service to the Indian Air Force in so many decades is going to be finalised.”
Mr. Bonnafont said that India and France had a longstanding defence cooperation and that it was getting better every year. The senior leadership in both countries had agreed to increase cooperation as they believed it as a common goal to fight terrorism, enhance peace and stability in the world, and in particular in the Indian Ocean, which naturally led them to better capabilities of joint operation, he said.
In response to a query on Exercise Garuda, the forthcoming joint air manoeuvres involving the Air Forces of India, France and Singapore in France from June 14, he said three air forces working together in the field of their operation would give them a lot of capacity to better themselves. The next edition of the annual Indo-French Varuna series of exercise would take place in India in January 2011, he said.
The meaning of the presence of LHD Tonnerre in Kochi, he said, was that “we want to share more with India and we are ready to show to India our flagship vessel which is not only an excellent example of what we know how to do in terms of manoeuvring at sea, but an excellent example of what the most modern Navies in the world are capable of doing technologically in order to be able to answer any threat efficiently.”
“This [Tonnerre's] mission is exemplary of the depths of the relation between France and India in the field of defence in our strategic partnership… This shows that not only do we share political analysis but we also act together for peace, security and stability. And there is a particular meaning of being out here in the Indian Ocean because we are participating in the IONS [Indian Ocean Naval symposium]. We are also very much involved in the fight against piracy and we are doing it very closely with the Indian Navy, Indian armed forces and the Indian government,” he said.
