France keen to sell more Rafales
With China in mind, India, France sign pact on use of each other’s military bases
Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, after which the two countries signed 14 pacts, including one on “reciprocal logistics support between their armed forces” that will provide access for warships of either side to each other’s ports.
The pact — to “facilitate the reciprocal provision of logistics support, supplies and services between the armed forces of the two countries during authorised port visits, joint exercises, joint training, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts” — was described by Mr Modi as a “golden step in the history of our close defence cooperation”.
He also described France as one of India’s most trusted defence partners, adding that “from land to sky there is no such topic where we are not working together with each other”.
Reflecting a growing depth in defence ties, India and France inked the strategic pact providing for the use of each other’s military facilities including opening naval bases to warships, an agreement that comes amid China’s growing military expansionism in the Indo-Pacific region.
With India already acquiring 36 French Rafale state-of-the-art fighter aircraft and the two countries expressing satisfaction over the progress in the matter, news agencies cited officials as saying that the French side pushed for the procurement of another batch of 36 Rafale fighters by India during a meeting between defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her French counterpart Florence Parly.
Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, after which the two countries signed 14 pacts, including one on “reciprocal logistics support between their armed forces” that will provide access for warships of either side to each other’s ports.
Meanwhile, in what is also being seen as a strong move keeping in mind the increasingly assertive role of China in the Indian Ocean Region, the two countries issued a Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region to serve as “a guiding beacon for such partnership” and “reiterated that this cooperation will be crucial in order to maintain the safety of international sea lanes for unimpeded commerce and communications in accordance with the international law”.
The two countries reiterated their joint determination to combat terrorism, with the joint statement referring to Pakistan-based terror organisations like the JeM and LeT apart from the Pakistan-backed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen in the Kashmir Valley.
On the issue of terror, the joint statement went: “They (PM Modi and President Macron) also called upon all countries to work towards rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and their financing channels, and halting crossborder movement of terrorists.”