India and France, during the two-day state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, made significant decisions, primarily aimed at strengthening cooperation in the defense domain. After the Republic Day parade was over, India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra conducted a press briefing, shedding light on Macron's visit to India.

India and France have established a fresh roadmap for defense industrial collaboration, aiming to pinpoint opportunities for partnership in various sectors, such as co-designing, co-developing, and co-producing military hardware. The two nations have committed to a collaborative effort to manufacture a multi-mission helicopter within India. Additionally, Safran, the French engine manufacturer, has expressed its willingness to transfer 100% of the technology required for building fighter jet engines in India.

During the media briefing on the outcomes of the talks between the two leaders, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra highlighted that the two countries have further solidified their collaboration through agreements on defense space partnership, satellite launches, joint research in clean energy, healthcare cooperation, as well as collaboration in the realm of public administration. Additionally, they have activated a five-year validity for Schengen visas for Indian students pursuing their Master's degree in France.

Tata and Airbus Helicopters will partner to produce the H125 helicopters in India with a significant indigenous and localisation component, he said.

Under the government's "Make in India" initiative, this marks India's first helicopter assembly line in the private sector. The commencement of production for the first domestically manufactured H125 helicopter in India is anticipated in 2026, according to sources familiar with the matter.

“The two countries have agreed to adopt the defence production road map. The priority of defence cooperation through this road map is to actually identify opportunities for partnership in the defence industrial sector that prioritise co-designing, co-development, co-production and also building the defence supply chains between the two countries so that they cannot only fulfil the defence needs of India and France but also can be a useful contributor to the security partnership with other countries who might be in use of similar products,” Kwatra said, in response to a question.

Providing further details, he emphasized that the partnership will span across various domains, encompassing both air and space technologies. It will also extend to maritime technology, covering areas such as underwater domain awareness, as well as equipment and systems associated with land warfare. The cooperative efforts will additionally focus on cutting-edge technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and platforms, and cyber defense. This comprehensive approach underscores the broad spectrum of technological advancements and defense capabilities that the two countries aim to jointly explore and develop.

“This flows from what the two countries agreed to in the Horizon 2047 Roadmap last year...The focus is on defence production and manufacturing in a manner that you can harness the compatibilities and competencies which the two economies have and the two engineering systems have and then use it to further strengthen your defence cooperation.”

Macron’s visit seeks to consolidate the ambitious renewal of the India-France strategic partnership that the two leaders decided on in Paris last July through the Horizon 2047 Roadmap.

On the Safran engine for India’s fighter jet programme, India’s ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf, who was present at the briefing, said, “The issue is really about arriving at a set of specifications that comply with our future fighter jet requirements. So this always features in the conversation between the President and the PM because what we are looking for is not just a manufacturing transfer of technology which essentially keeps you going with the same crutches that you have been going on for the last six decades. But to work in the actual design phase, metallurgical aspects etc. Safran is fully willing to do it with a 100% transfer of technology in design, development, certification, production and so forth. But it is obviously a very complex subject, and it has to fit in with the overall future requirements. These discussions will continue to take place and that’s also a part of the defence industrial road map.”

The space sector has emerged as a crucial pillar of the strategic partnership between India and France. Vinay Kwatra highlighted that NewSpace India Limited and Arianespace have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on satellite launches. This signifies a significant step in fostering cooperation in the realm of space exploration and satellite deployment, further strengthening the ties between the two nations in this strategic domain.

“The letter intent that the two countries have agreed on this time would essentially focus on areas such as space situational awareness which is very important to build an understanding of the kind of traffic which is up there in the space, collision avoidance, again because of traffic, Earth monitoring from the space, remote sensing, communications, and broadcasting.”

There is also a related understanding which was arrived at between NSIL and Arianespace on the optimisation of satellite launches. “France has some very strong satellite launching capabilities and so does India. And the idea is how do these two institutions come together to optimise these capacities including through the best and maximum use the satellite launch windows that might be available.”

Kwatra said the two sides had agreed on a young professional scheme to promote exchanges of professionals aged between 18 and 35 years under the overall framework of India-France migration and mobility partnership agreement.

“The topics of discussion between the two leaders included areas of priority and focus in our bilateral partnership as also issues of interest and significance regionally and globally.”

Responding to a question on cooperation in the Indian Ocean region and Indo-Pacific, Kwatra said both India and France are resident powers in this part of the world and they can cooperate to mitigate the challenges and harvest the opportunities that exist. “That has always been a very important priority of discussions between the leaders. And discussions this time were no exception.”

The discussions also touched upon global geopolitical concerns, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the situation in Gaza, and tensions in the Red Sea being notable topics during the talks.

Image source: PTI