India, France renew defence pact for 10 years with higher local content
India, France renew defence pact for 10 years with higher local content
India and France extend their defence partnership for a decade, aiming to boost Make-in-India content in Rafale jets and expand India’s MRO capabilities.
In Bengaluru, India and France renewed their defence cooperation agreement for another ten years during the 6th India-France Annual Defence Dialogue. The talks were co-chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and France’s Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, Catherine Vautrin. A key demand from India was to raise the indigenous content in the Rafale fighter jets by up to 50% and to broaden the Rafale’s maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in India. An MoU on a Joint Venture was signed for manufacturing Hammer missiles in India between Bharat Electronics Limited and Safran Electronics and Defence, signalling a tangible push toward co-development and co-production of advanced equipment. The agreement also included Reciprocal Deployment Officers at Indian Army and French Land Forces establishments, reinforcing closer military-to-military cooperation between the two nations. The ministers stressed the importance of tying together industries from both countries to accelerate the development of niche technologies and strengthen regional stability. In their discussions, they highlighted the wider bilateral security and defence agenda as a pillar of their strategic partnership and noted the relevance of the India-EU Security and Defence Partnership as a framework for tangible outcomes. Singh emphasised India’s role as a regional security provider in the Indian Ocean and underlined the need to leverage the new framework for joint capabilities and to reinforce Indo-French strategic alignment.
