Recent Deals :
- Intergovernmental agreement for the purchase of Rafale fighter jets, nuclear reactors, French railway locomotives
- A major commitment to counterterror cooperation.
- French industrial major Alstom to make 800 high horse power locomotives in India. The locomotives are expected to be made in the electric locomotives factory in Madhepura, Bihar.
- The Indian Space Research Organisation and its French counterpart CNES (National Centre for Space Studies) agreed to work together in the next Mars mission, as well as a satellite launch and a thermal infrared observation mission
Background :
Indo-French partnership goes a long way back. The following are some instances, which make this bilateral relationship a special one:
Indo-French partnership goes a long way back. The following are some instances, which make this bilateral relationship a special one:
- France was one of the first nations to help India diversify her defense sector. Even today, France is at the forefront of helping India build a blue navy. Case in point, the Scorpene class submarines;
- France was the only western country to support India’s defense, space and nuclear programmes when it was alienated internationally in 1970s for carrying out nuclear tests.
- France actively lobbied within the UNSC for dilution of sanctions which were imposed on following the 1998 nuclear tests.
- Internationally, the two countries have collaborated diplomatically on a variety of issues. E.g. India voted in favor of the UN resolution calling for French intervention in Mali.
The vast potential of the mutually beneficial Indo-French relations can be gauged from the following instances of tentative cooperation between the two:
- Nuclear cooperation – both civil and military. (Jaitapur Power Plant)
- Develop defense sector ecosystem in India by investing in skills and capacity building.
- Regional cooperation especially in the Indian Ocean, West Asia and North Africa where both have geostrategic interests.
- Climate change.
- French companies considered to be world leaders in smart cities (SCs) technology are assisting the Indian Government crystallize the Smart Cities Initiative. E.g. development of Pondicherry and Chandigarh as SCs.
- India-France trade hovers around $8 billion, which amounts to half of India’s trade with the U.K. or Germany (27/01/2016)