India, France unveil defence industrial roadmap; Airbus & Tata Group agree on helicopter deal
DELHI: India and France on Friday unveiled an ambitious industrial roadmap to co-develop critical military hardware and firmed up a space situational awareness programme even as the Tata Group and Airbus agreed to jointly build H125 helicopters following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, announcing the outcomes of Thursday's Modi-Macron talks in Jaipur, said a scheme for exchange of professionals in the age bracket of 18 to 35 years and activation of Schengen visas with a five-year validity for Indian postgraduate alumni were among other key decisions.
The two sides signed several crucial agreements including one on defence-space partnership, another on satellite launches besides a separate one on boosting cooperation in the healthcare sector.
At a media briefing, Kwatra said both sides deliberated on various aspects to advance civil-nuclear energy cooperation and that there was a "very positive, forward-leaning" ongoing conversation on small modular reactors (SMRs).
Modi and Macron also delved into the situation in the Red Sea and the "potential disruptions" that it can trigger, besides exchanging views on the conflict in Gaza, he said.
There was no announcement on India's proposed procurement of 26 naval variants of Rafale jets and three Scorpene submarines from France as it is understood that price negotiations for the multi-billion dollar deals are still underway.
The French president began his two-day visit to India from Jaipur and was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi on Friday.
The pact on defence space partnership would facilitate joint work on a space situational awareness program, being billed as very significant for developing military satellites and sharing of crucial information on space traffic and debris.
The foreign secretary said the Tatas and the Airbus Helicopters entered into an industrial partnership for joint production of H125 helicopters in India with a significant "indigenous and localisation component."
Under the agreement, Airbus Helicopters will be partnering with the Tata Group to establish a Final Assembly Line (FAL) for H125 helicopters in India. The FAL will produce the helicopters from its civil range for India and export to some of the neighbouring countries.
"This helicopter final assembly line, which we will build together with our trusted partner Tata, is a reaffirmation of Airbus' commitment to developing the full spectrum of the aerospace ecosystem in India,' Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said.
Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the "Tata Group is delighted to set up India's first helicopter assembly facility in the private sector."
"This facility will have the final assembly line in partnership with Airbus for the world's bestselling Airbus H125 single engine helicopter for the Indian as well as export markets."
The two sides also firmed up agreements for boosting engagement in areas of healthcare, education, training and research and sustainable development. It has been agreed that the year 2026 will be celebrated as India-France year of innovation, Kwatra said.
The foreign secretary said the two countries decided to adopt the defence industrial roadmap to identify opportunities for partnership for co-designing, co-development and co-production of military hardware besides building defence supply chains.
The aim is not only to fulfil the defence needs of India and France but also to see if it can be a useful contributor to the security partnership with other countries who might be in use of similar products, he said.
Kwatra said the defence roadmap will provide for technology collaboration in the spheres of air, space, underwater domain awareness, land warfare, robotics, cyber defence, artificial intelligence as also autonomous vehicles and platforms.
The focus would be on defence manufacturing in a manner that can harness the compatibilities and competencies of the two economies in the defence sector, he said.
"The ongoing conflict in Gaza and its various dimensions including the terror dimensions, humanitarian dimensions, disruption dimensions -- all those things came up for discussions and both leaders shared their perspective."
Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary
"With regard to the development in the Red Sea, naturally the potential disruptions and the actual things happening in the maritime domain there, which is causing disruption to the commercial shipping, indeed is a matter of serious concern and both leaders focused on it," Kwatra said.
Modi and Macron also touched upon ongoing cooperation between the two nations in the Indian Ocean Region as well as the Indo-Pacific.
On India-France civil-nuclear cooperation, Kwatra said there are several elements to it including localisation, financial viability, cost-effectiveness and the two sides are continuing the discussions.
The foreign secretary described the area of SMRs as a relatively new domain space in terms of discussion between the two countries.
"Technology needs to come together, viability needs to come together and its positioning in the overall energy mix needs to come together. There was a very positive, forward leaning ongoing conversation between the two countries (on it)," he said.
An MoU was signed by New Space India Limited (NSIL) and French space agency Arianespace for cooperation in satellite launches.
Kwatra said the French side has always been forthcoming in supporting India's candidacy for the membership of the International Energy Agency.
He also said that following up on a decision taken during Modi's visit to Paris in July last year, the Indian consulate in the southern French city Marseille and the French bureau in Hyderabad are now fully ready to be operational.
Kwatra said India and France also decided to set up a solar academy in Senegal under the Star Sea programme of the International Solar Alliance that was launched in 2015.
The defence and strategic ties between India and France have been on an upswing in the last few years.
The two strategic partners also expressed commitment to cooperate in the co-development and co-production of advanced defence technologies, including for the benefit of third countries.
The two sides are also expanding cooperation in the maritime domain including in the Indian Ocean Region.