Rajnath holds “excellent” meeting with French counterpart Lecornu in Paris

PTI, Oct 12, 2023, 12:12 PM IST

The India-France strategic partnership is more relevant today than ever and both sides are looking forward to taking it to ”newer heights”, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.

Singh said this following his talks in Paris with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu.

The defence minister described his meeting with Lecornu as ”excellent”.

”Had an excellent meeting with the French Minister for the Armed Forces, Mr. Sebastien Lecornu in Paris,” Singh said in a post on X.

”India-France strategic partnership has deepened over years and is more relevant today than ever. We look forward to taking this partnership to newer heights,” he said. The defence minister arrived in Paris on Tuesday after concluding a visit to Rome.

On Wednesday, Singh visited a jet engine manufacturing facility of French firm Safran near Paris and witnessed latest developments in aero-engine technology.

His visit to the facility at Gennevilliers assumed significance as Safran is looking at co-developing a fighter aircraft engine in India under a mega project.

Singh also interacted with a group of CEOs of top French defence companies and highlighted to them the ”advantages” of co-development and co-production of defence hardware in India that he said could be exported to third countries.

The defence ministry said Singh visited the Safran Engine Division’s R and D Centre at Gennevilliers near Paris and witnessed the latest developments in aero-engine technology.

Defence and strategic ties between India and France have been on an upswing in the last few years.

In July, India and France announced a raft of ground-breaking defence cooperation projects, including the joint development of jet and helicopter engines and construction of three Scorpene submarines for the Indian Navy.

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.