India and France Reach Agreement to Enhance Collaboration; let's explore further!

Key Aspects of India-France Relations

India–France Strategic Partnership: Initiated on 26 January 1998, it represents India's inaugural Strategic Partnership.

Main objective: Strengthen strategic independence and expand bilateral collaboration.

Core Strategic Foundations: Security and defense, Civil nuclear partnership, and Space cooperation.

Broadening domains: Indo-Pacific collaboration, sea security, digitization, cyber defense, climate issues, sustainable growth, cutting-edge technologies, and counter-terrorism.

Defence Cooperation: It is assessed through the Annual Defence Dialogue (Ministerial level) and the High Committee on Defence Cooperation (HCDC) (Secretary level).

Rafale Fighter Jets: India acquired 36 Rafales from Dassault Aviation.

Scorpene Submarines (Project P-75): Partnership with France’s Naval Group, 6 submarines constructed in India; the most recent is INS Vaghsheer.

Combat Aircraft Engine Development: HAL and Safran Helicopter Engines of France entered into a partnership under the IMRH initiative to collaboratively develop engines.

Recently, both countries officially finalized an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to acquire 26 Rafale-M fighter aircraft for the Indian Navy.

Future initiatives: Joint development of next-generation fighter aircraft engines.

Joint Drills: Shakti, Varuna, FRINJEX-23.

Economic Cooperation: In the European Union, France is India's fifth-biggest trading partner, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Germany.

The two-way trade between India and France has more than doubled over the past ten years to reach USD 15.11 Billion in 2023-24.

The two nations are also advancing to collaboratively create technologies and combine current technologies.

The implementation of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has been successful in France.

French technologies, particularly in renewable energy, sustainable manufacturing, and urban infrastructure development, are being incorporated into India.

Space Collaboration: There has been more than 60 years of partnership between ISRO and CNES (the French space agency).

France is a major provider of parts and launch services (Arianespace).

Collaborative missions: TRISHNA (satellite initiative), MDA technologies, ground station assistance.

Energy Cooperation: India and France co-founded the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in 2015 with the goal of advancing solar energy globally.

Nuclear Energy Cooperation: In 2025, the Indo-French Strategic Dialogue's special task force on nuclear energy held its first meeting.

A partnership on low and medium power modular reactors, also known as Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMR), has been agreed to by both parties.

Community: Mostly from former French colonies, there are an estimated 1,19,000 Indians living in mainland France.

Issues of Concern

Trade Discrepancy: Two-way trade is still underachieving, notably in contrast to India’s trade relationships with other EU countries.

Technology Transfer & Defence Limitations: Although France has backed India’s defence ambitions, there are worries regarding the extent of technology transfer for major assets.

Nuclear Liability Issues: Even with a civil nuclear pact established in 2008 and proposals for reactors at Jaitapur, advancement has been gradual.

The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (2010) creates challenges for French companies by placing liability on suppliers if a nuclear incident occurs.

Geopolitical Differences: France's robust economic relationships with China might occasionally reduce complete alignment with India on Indo-Pacific matters.

Variations in perspectives on Middle East geopolitics (e.g., positions regarding Iran, Israel–Palestine) sometimes differ.

Prospective Viewpoint

Horizon 2047 Roadmap outlines: To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Indo-French alliance, both nations have committed to establishing a roadmap that will guide their bilateral relations until 2047.

Collaborative creation and manufacturing of sophisticated defense technologies.

Export of collaboratively developed products to external countries for worldwide benefit.

Enhanced collaboration in maritime and space security.

Increasing alignment in the Indo-Pacific via strategic discussions and combined military presence.

In conclusion

India–France defense collaboration is a fundamental aspect of their broader Strategic Partnership.

Both nations, united by common goals in sovereignty, multilateralism, and regional stability, are poised to deepen their relationship through the Horizon 2047 vision, enhancing defence ties to be more cooperative, inventive, and focused on exports.