India and France reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their defence partnership during a meeting between defence officials. The focus is on defence industrial cooperation via co-design, co-development, and co-production.
India and France on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the defence ties, during a meeting between Defence Secretary Rajesh Singh and France's Chief of Defence General (Air) Fabien Mandon.
The details of the meeting were shared by the Ministry of Defence in a post on X. It underlined that the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the India-France defence partnership, with a renewed focus on defence industrial cooperation through co-design, co-development and co-production, in line with the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
The Ministry of Defence further noted that the ties also build on the outcomes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to France. Chief of Defence, France, General (Air) Fabien Mandon, called on Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delh on July 20, 2026. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the India–France defence partnership, with a renewed focus on defence… pic.twitter.com/wgKhQPdahY — Ministry of Defence, Government of India (@SpokespersonMoD) July 20, 2026
Modi-Macron Bilateral Talks
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, at Villa Kerylos in Nice in June. This was the first meeting of the two leaders since the elevation of India-France ties to the level of 'Special Global Strategic Partnership' earlier this year.
According to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the visit of PM Modi, it was noted that the leaders held extensive discussions covering diverse aspects of bilateral relations. They expressed satisfaction at the excellent growth and depth of bilateral defence collaboration across all domains and agreed to further intensify it with focus on co-design, co-development and co-production of defence platforms and advanced technologies.
The statement also underlined how both leaders noted the rich legacy of cooperation in the space sector and discussed furthering collaboration in human spaceflight and space situational awareness.
Robust Defence Partnership
India and France have a robust defence partnership with an increasing Atmanirbharata element in it.
The defence cooperation between the two sides is reviewed under the Annual Defence Dialogue (Defence Minister-level) and by the High Committee on Defence Cooperation (Secretary-level). (ANI)
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