India and France have finally decided to collaborative work together on the collaborative production of defence equipment which involves helicopters and submarines for the Indian armed forces and production for amiable nations, New Delhi revealed. The deal was reached during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, who encountered Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended a state banquet hosted by President Draupadi Murmu, the government said in a statement late on Friday.
Macron and Modi agreed to expand bilateral ties in defence production, nuclear energy, space research and the use of artificial intelligence for public services like climate change, health and agriculture, the statement conveyed. It did not specify the preciousness of any deals. After Russia, France is the largest arms supplier to India, which has been dependent on its fighter jets for four decades. The governers rolled out the red carpets for the setting up of maintenance, repair and overhaul services by France’s Safran for leading-edge aviation propulsion (LEAP) engines in India and adding such services for Rafale engines, and a helicopter partnership.
The bilateral summit whilst Macron’s 40-hour visit, was the fifth Macron-Modi meeting since May. India’s Tata Group and France’s Airbus have signed an agreement to manufacture civilian helicopters together, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said. French jet engine maker CFM International also declared an agreement with India’s Akasa Air to purchase exceeding than 300 of its LEAP-1B engines to power 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Akasa Air Before sometime ordered 76 aircraft powered by the engine, of which 22 are in use. India and France decided to strengthen cooperation in the southwest Indian Ocean, building on collaborative surveillance missions carried out from the French island territory of La Reunion in 2020 and 2022, the government statement revealed.