Updated: September 10, 2020 1:17:44 am
The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, almost four years after India signed an intergovernmental agreement with France to acquire 36 of the jets at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
France on Wednesday described India as its “main” Asian strategic partner, saying that the upcoming visit of its Defense Minister Florence Parly to the country aims to further strengthen “forward-thinking” defense cooperation with New Delhi. .
Parly will visit India on Thursday to attend a ceremony in Ambala to bring the first batch of five Rafale jets into the Indian Air Force (IAF). The French defense minister will hold talks with her Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh and national security adviser Ajit Doval.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said Parly will receive a ceremonial Honor Guard upon arrival in Delhi.
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The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, almost four years after India signed an intergovernmental agreement with France to acquire 36 of the jets at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
In a statement, the French embassy here said that the focus of the talks will be on maritime security ties in the Indo-Pacific, counter-terrorism cooperation and strengthening the bilateral defense partnership in general.
“Their wide-ranging talks will cover, among others, the industrial and technology partnership in line with the Make in India program, defense operational cooperation, in particular maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, the modalities of continuation of joint exercises. of the armed forces in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, cooperation against terrorism, as well as the main regional and international strategic issues, ”said the embassy.
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He said the talks will carry forward the decision of French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deepen and expand the Indo-French partnership with strategic autonomy and the defense of a multipolar order as its cornerstones.
It will be Parly’s third visit to India since 2017 and one of his first official trips since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, the embassy said.
The French defense minister will be accompanied by senior executives from Dassault Aviation, Thales Group, Safran and MBDA, representing the large French defense companies that have partnered with many Indian companies as part of the Rafale deal.
“In Ambala, the program will include the ceremonial inauguration of the Rafale aircraft, a traditional ‘Sarva Dharma Puja’, an airshow of the Rafale and Tejas aircraft, as well as the ‘Sarang Aerobatic Team,'” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The Rafale aircraft will then be given a traditional water cannon salute, he said.
The Rafale jets, produced by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, will be formally listed with the IAF at the ceremony at Ambala airbase on Thursday in the presence of Singh, Parly and several senior military officials.
During her visit to the national capital, Parly will also pay floral tributes to the brave soldiers of India at the National War Memorial.
In a video message posted on Twitter, French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain spoke about the strategic ties between the two countries and described Parly’s visit as one of the important steps to further boost the bilateral relationship.
Ties between India and France are improving in recent years and cooperation has seen significant expansion in key areas.
The areas of defense and security, civil nuclear cooperation and trade and investment constitute the main pillars of the Indo-French strategic partnership.
In addition, India and France are increasingly engaged in new areas of cooperation, such as the Indian Ocean region, climate change, and sustainable growth and development.
The two countries share a close degree of convergence on a number of regional and global issues, as well as ways of tackling terrorism and extremism.
Both India and France have significant bilateral cooperation on investment and trade. France has become a major source of FDI in India with more than 1,000 French establishments operating in the country with a total turnover of around $ 20 billion.
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