India, France ‘Ramp Up’ Defense, Space Ties Amid China’s Aggression; Plans For Helo Engine, Submarine, Satellite Deals.
India and France have decided to deepen their Indo-Pacific security, defense, and space ties, with deals ranging from military-industrial cooperation to boost the former’s exports, jointly building a helicopter engine, constructing additional conventional submarines, and joint satellite launches in the foreseeable future.
These agreements were reached during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to India to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. He also met one-on-one with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after which the two sides signed several agreements in strategic sectors.
The main focus of Macron’s visit, coming as it does for the second time in six months after he visited New Delhi for the G20 summit hosted under India’s presidency in September 2023, was to ramp up the gains the two nations have achieved in the last few years in critical sectors.
Macron and Modi recognized the defense and security partnership as the principal pillar of the two nations’ ties and as a source of strengthening their respective country’s sovereignty and strategic autonomy and advancing peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
Indo-Pacific Security Focus To Counter China’s Expansionism
In a joint statement released after their bilateral meetings, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to further deepen the long-standing partnership between the two countries based on their shared vision for the Indo-Pacific region. The leaders emphasized the region’s significance for their respective sovereign and strategic interests.
They also acknowledged “the crucial role of their partnership in the region for advancing a free, open, inclusive, secure, and peaceful Indo-Pacific and beyond,” an euphemism for countering the aggressive, expansionist plans of Communist China.
India and France signed a Comprehensive Roadmap in July 2023 to boost their engagement in the Indo-Pacific region against China, which is a pain for Indo-Pacific nations with its territorial claims. China has inflicted military conflicts not only with India but also with other nations, such as the Philippines, with which it has behaved aggressively in recent times over claims to the Second Thomas Shoal.
India’s ties with France extend from intelligence and information exchange to military exercises and defense equipment purchases across all domains from the seabed to space.
Defense-Industrial Cooperation To Boost India’s Arms Exports
The two leaders also committed to further deepening the integration between the two countries’ respective defense industrial sectors and “to work together to identify opportunities for co-design, co-development, and co-production with the objective of not only fulfilling the defense needs of the Indian armed forces but also of providing a viable and reliable source of arms supplies to other friendly countries.”
The aim is to boost India’s defense industrial capabilities and capacities to meet its target of US$25 billion in military production and US$5 billion in arms exports by 2025. The defense industrial collaboration, especially from the design stage, not only creates quality jobs for the youth and advances Modi’s vision of a ‘Self-Reliant India’ but also supports broader progress in scientific, technological, digital, and material sciences fields to realize the vision of ‘Developed India’ for 2047.
Airbus, Tata Tie-Up For Civilian Helicopters
The two leaders also announced Airbus’s decision to partner with Tata Advanced System to begin the assembly of single-engine H125 civilian helicopters in India. The two companies will become the first private sector companies to produce helicopters in India, in line with the Indian government’s strategy of self-reliance.
Airbus has decided to give growing orders for aircraft parts in India for its European assembly plants. The Final Assembly Line for H125s will be ready in 24 months after the two companies decide on the location, and the India-made helicopters will roll out from 2026.
Scorpene Submarine Localization Plan
The two sides also announced a comprehensive helicopter partnership with a Joint Venture for an Indian Multi-Role Helicopter engine between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Safran, apart from localization of the Scorpene submarines being constructed in India, including indigenization.
In July 2023, when Modi was in France, the two nations announced the construction of three additional Scorpene submarines by the Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock and Shipbuilders Limited (MDL). Still, they removed it from the joint statement then.
Joint Satellite Launches Soon
India and France are already cooperating in the Space sector, with each other’s satellites being launched by their respective space agencies. This Space sector relationship has lasted for six decades, and the two nations established the Strategic Space Dialogue in June 2023 to take their cooperation a notch higher by providing strategic guidance and direction across all aspects of space cooperation.
India and France committed this time to further expanding space cooperation for “the benefit of their countries, humanity, and the planet, 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.”
