New Delhi: Aimed at boosting defence manufacturing, France wants to be India’s “best partner” by sharing its best technologies and equipment in sync with the growing “trust” between the two sides, French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain has said.
Without divulging specific details, the envoy told a news agency that French and Indian companies are working together on “equipment of the future”, platforms and engines.
“I do not think any country provides India with the same level of technology. The progress is also due to the fact that we recognise that India wants to boost its strategic autonomy, wants to build its industrial base and we want to be India’s best partner in this move,” he said.
Indo-French strategic ties have been on a major upswing after India inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for the procurement of 36 Rafale jets at a cost of around Rs 59,000 crore.
“Defence has always been a very strong component of our cooperation because there is a lot of trust between our two countries. When you want to work on these issues, you need trust because you commit yourself for 10, 20, 30 years,” Lenain said.
“This trust is the main asset that we have. Defence cooperation has been developing very well because we are very comfortable with India and we have decided that we could share our best technology, state-of-the-art equipment, best-in-class technology,” he said.
The two sides are now looking at further bolstering the strategic partnership in view of the evolving global geo-political landscape triggered by the crisis in Ukraine and developments in the Indo-Pacific region.
“From the beginning, we were the best partners in the Make-in-India policy. Now that India is switching to the Atmanirbhar policy, we are also there for India,” Lenain said. He said France is ready to co-develop equipment with India and share know-how.
“Our companies are working together on the equipment of the future, on engines, on different sorts of equipment. It is very positive for both industries,” he said.
Lenain chose not to give a direct reply when asked about the possibility of the Indian Air Force procuring additional Rafales and whether France was also looking at supplying the naval version of the jet to the Indian Navy. “We are talking, and again, we are very much willing to provide state-of-the-art equipment. Everything is on the table and we do our best,” he said.
French aerospace major Safran has already set the ball rolling to set up its biggest maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Hyderabad with an investment of around US$ 305 million.
“It is a partnership of equals and it is a partnership to boost each other’s strategic autonomy,” Lenain said. Ways to expand defence and security cooperation figured during French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna’s visit to India last month. In December last year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said France has agreed to jointly build aircraft engine with India.
