India, France seal key pacts in defence, UPI

India and France on Friday announced a raft of agreements to deepen defence cooperation, including pacts for three submarines for the Indian Navy and the development of jet and helicopter engines, and unveiled plans to roll out the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) system in Europe from September.

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Both countries also agreed to work on establishing a partnership to build low and medium-power modular nuclear reactors and adopted a new Indo-Pacific Roadmap to work together to secure their economic and security interests and advance the rule of international law. The developments came following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

Defence cooperation is a key pillar in India-France relations and the two sides should work on the co-production of military platforms to meet not only their own needs but those of friendly third countries, Modi said at a joint media interaction with Macron ahead of their official talks.

Security cooperation, ranging from co-development of defence hardware to space-based maritime domain awareness and joint steps to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, formed a crucial part of Modi’s remarks. He also outlined several steps aimed at taking bilateral relations to the next stage, including a roadmap for the next 25 years of the strategic partnership.

Following the success of the Scorpene submarine construction programme or P75, state-run Mazagon Dockyard Ltd and France’s Naval Group signed a MoU for the construction of three additional Scorpene submarines.

After the delivery of 36 Rafale combat jets to India, the two sides will extend their cooperation in advanced aeronautical technologies by supporting the joint development of a combat aircraft engine, according to a joint document titled “Horizon 2047”. A roadmap for this project will be prepared between France’s Safran and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) by the end of the year.