Asserting that India-France relations are at their "highest point," French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said the two countries now share a Special Global Strategic Partnership which is unique and will expand further.
India is looking at opportunities for collaboration across defence sector during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Malaysia, with the sale of Dornier aircraft, maintenance of Scorpene submarines and SU-30 aircraft, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
The Indian Navy is hoping to finalise the Rs 90,000 crore deals for 26 Rafale Marine combat aircraft and three additional Scorpene submarines by next month, announced Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on Monday.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held a meeting with French Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu and held discussions on defence cooperation, including the Rafale Marine, Scorpene submarines, space, and international situation, especially Ukraine.
In a move towards boosting its surveillance and fighting capabilities, the Indian Navy is looking towards concluding three major defence deals this financial year, including the 31 MQ-9B drone deal, 3 additional Scorpene submarines and the 26 Rafale-M fighter aircraft project.
Amid ongoing procedure to buy three more Scorpene class submarines for the Indian Navy, Naval Group-- the French partner for the project, said that the heart or the combat management system of these new submarines would be made in India by the Bharat Electronics Limited and supported by arch
The Scorpene Submarine deal between India and France has still not been concluded, however, both sides do not expect any sort of difficulty, the sources said.
India and France on Friday hailed the success of the first Scorpene submarine construction programme (P75 – Kalvari), a model of 'Make-in- India' and the sharing of naval expertise between companies in the two countries.
Defence Ministry on Thursday approved plans to buy 26 Rafale fighter aircraft and three Scorpene class conventional submarines for the Indian Navy from France.