India and France Agree to Intensify Cooperation

General Studies Paper-2

Context

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held wide-ranging discussions with French counterpart and the two sides agreed to intensify bilateral cooperation in areas like defence, security, space and civilian-nuclear collaboration.

Major Highlights of the India-France Relations

• India–France Strategic Partnership: It was launched on 26 January 1998 and is India’s first-ever Strategic Partnership.
• Core vision: Enhance strategic autonomy and deepen bilateral cooperation.
• Key Strategic Pillars: Defence and security, Civil nuclear cooperation and Space collaboration.
• Expanding areas: Indo-Pacific cooperation, maritime security, digitalisation, cyber security, climate change, sustainable development, advanced technologies, and, counter-terrorism.
• Defence Cooperation: It is reviewed via the Annual Defence Dialogue (Minister-level) and High Committee on Defence Cooperation (HCDC) (Secretary-level).
• Rafale Fighter Jets: India procured 36 Rafales from Dassault Aviation.
• Scorpene Submarines (Project P-75): Collaboration with France’s Naval Group, 6 submarines built in India; latest is INS Vaghsheer.
• Combat Aircraft Engine Development: HAL and France’s Safran Helicopter Engines signed an agreement under the IMRH programme to co-develop engines.
• Recently both nations formally concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to procure 26 Rafale-M fighter jets for the Indian Navy.
• Future plans: Co-development of next-gen fighter jet engines
• Joint Exercises: Shakti, Varuna, FRINJEX-23.
• Economic Cooperation: Within the European Union, France remains India’s fifth-largest trading partner, following the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Germany.
  • The bilateral trade between India and France has more than doubled in the last decade to USD 15.11 Billion in 2023-24.
  • Both countries are also moving to jointly develop technologies and integrate existing technologies.
  • The process of enabling Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has been successful in France.
  • French technologies especially in renewables, sustainable manufacturing and urban infrastructure development are being integrated in India.
• Space Cooperation: There is a over 60 years of collaboration between ISRO and CNES (French space agency)
• France is a key supplier of components, launch services (Arianespace).
• Joint missions: TRISHNA (satellite mission), MDA systems, ground station support.
• Energy Cooperation:
• International Solar Alliance (ISA): Co-founded by India and France in 2015 to promote solar energy worldwide.
• Nuclear Energy Cooperation: The first meeting of special task force on nuclear energy in the framework of the Indo-French Strategic Dialogue, was convened in 2025.
  • Both sides have agreed to work on establishing a partnership on low and medium power modular reactors or Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMR).
• Community: There are an estimated 1,19,000 Indian community in mainland France, largely originating from erstwhile French colonies.

Areas of Concern

• Trade Imbalance: Bilateral trade remains below potential, especially compared to India’s trade with other EU nations.
• Technology Transfer & Defence Restrictions: While France has supported India’s defence goals, there are concerns over the depth of technology transfer in big-ticket items.
• Nuclear Liability Concerns: Despite a civil nuclear agreement in 2008 and plans for reactors at Jaitapur, progress has been slow.
• The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (2010) poses hurdles for French firms as it imposes liability on suppliers in the event of a nuclear accident.
• Geopolitical Differences: France’s strong economic ties with China may sometimes dilute full alignment with India on Indo-Pacific issues.
• Differences in approach to Middle East geopolitics (e.g., stance on Iran, Israel–Palestine) occasionally diverge.

Future Outlook

• Horizon 2047 Roadmap envisions: To mark the 25th anniversary of the Indo-French partnership, both countries agreed to adopt a roadmap to set the course for the bilateral relationship up to 2047.
• Joint development and production of advanced defence technologies.
• Export of jointly developed products to third countries for global good.
• Deeper maritime and space security cooperation.
• Growing convergence in the Indo-Pacific through strategic dialogue and joint military presence.

Conclusion

• India–France defence cooperation is a cornerstone of their wider Strategic Partnership.
• With shared interests in sovereignty, multilateralism, and regional stability, both countries are set to elevate ties further under the Horizon 2047 vision — making defence ties more collaborative, innovative, and export-oriented.