India, France look beyond defence to deepen bilateral economic ties

New Delhi: After forging close partnership in the defence domain, India and France are now looking at significantly deepening trade and investment relations especially in sectors like clean energy, new technologies and aviation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi landing in Paris on Monday.

France has emerged as a major source of FDI for India with more than 1,000 French establishments already present in India. France is the 11th largest foreign investor in India with a cumulative investment of $10.84 billion from April 2000 to December 2023.

PM Modi, who is on visit to France from February 10 to 12, will be co-chairing the AI Action Summit, a gathering of the world leaders and global tech CEOs, to exchange views on collaborative approach to AI technology for innovation and larger public good.

PM Modi will also visit the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, in which India is a member of the consortium of partner countries including France, to harness energy for the global good.

The two countries are in talks for small modular reactors to boost bilateral civil nuclear cooperation as part of the thrust on green energy to fight climate change.

French Foreign Trade Minister Sophie Primas said during a recent three-day visit to Delhi that France was looking forward to further negotiations between New Delhi and the European Union for finalisation of a “mutually beneficial” free trade deal that could expand two-way economic engagement.

On India-France trade relations, the French minister said the focus now is on expansion of the economic engagement as both sides have already built a robust partnership in the strategic domain.

The Horizon 2047 partnership was unveiled in July 2023 following wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron with an aim to shore up bilateral ties, including in trade and investment.

An India-France Triangular Development Cooperation initiative is also likely to be launched. The two countries are expected to declare 2026 the India-France Innovation Year.

According to the President of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry France-India, Coumar Ananda, the trade between India and France remained below $20 billion, with most transactions focused on defense and aerospace industries.

France is one of India’s key partners in the development of a self-reliant defence industrial and technological base.

India and France are committed to cooperating in the co-development and co-production of advanced defence technologies, including for the benefit of third countries.

In line with their outstanding cooperation in military aviation spanning over five decades, India and France welcome the timely delivery of the 36 Rafale ordered by India.

In the future, India and France will extend their ground-breaking defence cooperation in advanced aeronautical technologies by supporting the joint development of a combat aircraft engine.

They also support industrial cooperation for motorization of heavy-lift helicopters under the Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH) programme with Safran Helicopter Engine, France.

To enable progress on the IMRH programme, a Shareholders’ Agreement between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India and Safran Helicopter Engine, France has been concluded for engine development.

India and France hail the success of the first Scorpene submarine construction programme (P75 – Kalvari), a model of Make in India and the sharing of naval expertise between companies in the two countries.

India and France are ready to explore more ambitious projects to develop the Indian submarine fleet and its performance.

Another such example is the MoU between Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), and Naval Group France, a leader in European Naval Defence Industry to collaborate in the field of surface ship that caters to fulfil the requirement of India and International Naval forces.

India and France are also cooperating closely on transition towards a low carbon economy, with the triple objective of meeting the growing demand for energy driven by India’s urbanisation and industrialisation, increasing energy security and achieving the SDG7 and Paris Climate Agreement objectives.

–IANS