Modi, Macron vow to strengthen India-France defence ties, release joint statement

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called for early finalisation of the roadmap for India-France defence industrial cooperation, even as the two sides refrained from making public any progress on the proposed deals for Rafale M aircraft and the new Project 75 submarines.

Modi and Macron had a meeting on the sideline of the G20 summit in New Delhi. The joint statement issued after the meeting in New Delhi took note of the continuing engagement between the two sides to expand bilateral cooperation in the nuclear energy sector to establish a partnership for co-developing Small Modular Reactor and Advanced Modular Reactor technologies. The two sides are likely to sign a dedicated declaration of intent for collaboration in the area of nuclear reactor technology.

The Prime Minister and the French President reviewed progress on bilateral discussion for construction of the nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.

France reiterated its steadfast and unwavering support for India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.  

The two leaders reiterated their commitment to strengthen defence cooperation through partnership in design, development, testing and manufacture of advanced military technologies and platforms, and expand production by the entities of France in India, including for third countries in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, according to a joint statement issued after the meeting. “In this context, they also called for early finalisation of the Defence Industrial Roadmap.”

The joint statement issued after the meeting however had no mention about India’s proposed purchase of 26 Rafale Marine combat aircraft for its navy from the Dassault Aviation of France. It also had no mention about any progress in the negotiation for a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of three submarines in India with the transfer of technology from France.

The proposed deals for the Rafale M aircraft and the new Project 75 submarines had been expected to be among the major outcomes of the meeting between the Prime Minister and the French President in Paris on July 14. But the two sides had then refrained from making any specific announcement on the proposed deals.