India and France have agreed to intensify their cooperation in the Southwest Indian Ocean, building on the “joint surveillance missions” carried out from French La Reunion in 2020 and 2022 while the two countries welcomed the progress in bilateral dialogue and identification of specific opportunities for using India “as a base” for the manufacture and export of defence equipment for friendly countries in the region, the joint statement issued at the end of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit on the bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
France is the first major Western military power with which India has conducted joint patrols under which Indian Navy P-8I maritime patrol aircraft were deployed to the French island territory of La Reunion. “They also welcomed the extension of those interactions in India’s maritime neighbourhood. These interactions may contribute positively to the securitisation of strategic sea lanes of communication,” the joint statement said.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the increasing “complexity and interoperability” of India-France joint defence exercises across air, sea and land and agreed to consider a distinct joint tri-services exercise, it stated. “They also discussed actively increasing capacities, particularly in the maritime domain, by joining hands with other like-minded countries.”
Pillar of partnership
The statement termed the defence and security partnership as a principal pillar of the partnership and stated that it extends from “intelligence and information exchange to exercises and equipment and across all domains from the seabed to space.”
India carries out triservice exercise with the U.S. and Russia. In addition, the two countries have also committed to “revitalising” the trilateral cooperation with Australia, deepen the one with United Arab Emirates (UAE) and explore new ones in the region.
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There has been a series of minilaterals in the last few years and officials have stated that several requests for trilaterals and multilaterals are pending. In July 2023, India and France finalised the comprehensive road map for the Indo-Pacific.
On defence industrial cooperation, for which a road map has been adopted, Mr. Modi and Mr. Macron reiterated their commitment to further deepening the integration between the two countries’ respective defence industrial sectors and to work together to identify opportunities for “co-design, co-development, co-production” for not only fulfilling the defence needs of the Indian armed forces, but also of providing “a viable and reliable source of defence supplies to other friendly countries.”
In this regard, the joint statement noted the establishment of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) for LEAP engines in India by Safran and the plans to add MRO for Rafale engines, a comprehensive helicopter partnership with a joint venture for Indian Multi-Role helicopter (IMRH) engine between HAL and Safran, and the additional Scorpene submarines constructed in India, including indigenisation. “They also welcomed the discussions between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the French Directorate General of Armament (DGA), and intend to conclude an Arrangement Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in an early timeframe,” it stated, referring to discussions for co-design and co-developement of a jet engine for India’s fifth generation fighter.
Space cooperation
In the realm of space cooperation, the two countries had launched the Strategic Space Dialogue in June 2023 to provide “strategic guidance and direction” across all aspects of space cooperation. A Letter of Intent on Defence Space Cooperation was concluded on Friday between the two countries and an MoU was signed between ISRO’s New Space India Limited (NSIL) and Arianespace of France to build a long-term partnership on satellite launch missions.
On this, the statement said that the two sides rededicated themselves to further expanding space cooperation, including through “co-development, manufacture and launch of satellites and payloads, research in new launch vehicle technologies and reusable launch vehicles and connecting the startups and users in both countries.” “They agreed to take full advantage of the opportunities in the space sector in both countries,” it added.
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