- India-France Defence Talks: India and France are going to have a defence meeting in Bengaluru on February 17. India’s Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, and France’s Defence Minister, Catherine Vautrin, will lead the 6th India-France Annual Defence Dialogue together. The Ministry of Defence shared this news.
This will be Vautrin’s first trip to India after she became France’s Minister of armed forces and veterans affairs in October last year.
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The Ministry of Defence said, “The meeting will review the entire gamut of bilateral defence cooperation, with a focus on expanding industrial collaboration,” in a press release. This means they will talk about all parts of defence work they do together and also try to grow their defence industries by working more closely.
New Agreements
At the meeting, both sides are likely to renew a defence cooperation agreement for another 10 years. They are also expected to sign an MoU to start a joint venture to make Hammer missiles together. This signing may happen in front of both defence ministers.
The ministry also said, “During the meeting, a defence cooperation agreement is expected to be renewed for another 10 years, with an MoU on a joint venture for the manufacturing of Hammer missiles likely to be signed in the presence of both defense ministers. An announcement is also expected with respect to reciprocal deployment of officers at the Indian Army and French Land Forces establishments,” it added. This means officers from India and France may soon work at each other’s army bases.
The two ministers will also watch the virtual opening of the H125 Light Utility Helicopter Final Assembly line of Tata Airbus in Vemagal in Karnataka. This event will be inaugurated online by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron will visit India for three days from February 17 to 19.
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Strong Defence Ties
The Ministry of Defence also reminded everyone that “defence has traditionally formed an important pillar of the India-France relationship.” It also said that the friendship between the two countries has been clearly seen in 2024–2025 because there have been many high-level visits and meetings.
The ministry explained that soldiers from both nations train together often. India and France take part in three big exercises regularly. These are Exercise Shakti for the Army, Exercise Varuna for the Navy, and Exercise Garuda for the Air Force. Apart from these, they also do many other joint activities.
The India-France Annual Defence Dialogue is described as “a structured ministerial-level bilateral meeting that reviews and guides defence and security cooperation.” The last time this meeting happened was for its 5th edition in France from October 11 to 13, 2023.
