India and France upgrade ties to Special Global Strategic Partnership

Syllabus: GS2/IR

Context

• The French President arrived on a three-day official visit to India to participate in the AI Impact Summit.

Major Outcomes

• PM Modi announced the establishment of a ‘Special Global Strategic Partnership’ with France.
• India and France renewed their defence cooperation agreement for another 10 years at the sixth India-France Annual Defence Dialogue.
• Establishment of annual Foreign Ministers Dialogue for regularly reviewing implementation of the elevated partnership and Horizon 2047 Roadmap.
• Launch of the India-France Year of Innovation & India-France Innovation Network. 
• Inauguration of H125 Helicopter Final Assembly Line at Vemagal, Karnataka.
• Joint Venture between BEL and Safran to produce HAMMER missiles in India.
• India has asked France to increase “indigenous content” in the Rafale by up to 50%, and also expand the Rafale’s maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in India.
• Reciprocal deployment of officers at Indian Army and French Land Forces establishments.

Major Highlights of the India-France Relations

• India–France Strategic Partnership: It was launched on 26 January 1998 and is India’s first-ever Strategic Partnership.
  • Core vision: Enhance strategic autonomy and deepen bilateral cooperation.
  • Key Strategic Pillars: Defence and security, Civil nuclear cooperation and Space collaboration.
  • Expanding areas: Indo-Pacific cooperation, maritime security, digitalisation, cyber security, climate change, sustainable development, advanced technologies, and, counter-terrorism.
• Defence Cooperation: It is reviewed via the Annual Defence Dialogue (Minister-level) and High Committee on Defence Cooperation (HCDC) (Secretary-level).
  • Rafale Fighter Jets: India procured 36 Rafales from Dassault Aviation.
  • Scorpene Submarines (Project P-75): Collaboration with France’s Naval Group, 6 submarines built in India; latest is INS Vaghsheer.
  • Combat Aircraft Engine Development: HAL and France’s Safran Helicopter Engines signed an agreement under the IMRH programme to co-develop engines.
  • Recently both nations formally concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to procure 26 Rafale-M fighter jets for the Indian Navy. 
  • Future plans: Co-development of next-gen fighter jet engines.
  • Joint Exercises: Shakti, Varuna, FRINJEX-23.
• Economic Cooperation:  Within the European Union, France remains India’s fifth-largest trading partner, following the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Germany.
  • The bilateral trade between India and France has more than doubled in the last decade to USD 15.11 Billion in 2023-24.
  • Both countries are also moving to jointly develop technologies and integrate existing technologies. 
  • The process of enabling Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has been successful in France.
  • French technologies especially in renewables, sustainable manufacturing and urban infrastructure development are being integrated in India.
• Space Cooperation: There is a over 60 years of collaboration between ISRO and CNES (French space agency)
  • France is a key supplier of components, launch services (Arianespace).
  • Joint missions: TRISHNA (satellite mission), MDA systems, ground station support.
• Energy Cooperation: 
  • International Solar Alliance (ISA): Co-founded by India and France in 2015 to promote solar energy worldwide.
  • Nuclear Energy Cooperation: The first meeting of the special task force on nuclear energy in the framework of the Indo-French Strategic Dialogue, was convened in 2025.
    • Both sides have agreed to work on establishing a partnership on low and medium power modular reactors or Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMR). 
• Community: There are an estimated 1,19,000 Indian communities in France, largely originating from erstwhile French colonies.

Areas of Concern

• Trade Imbalance: Bilateral trade remains below potential, especially compared to India’s trade with other EU nations.
• Technology Transfer & Defence Restrictions: While France has supported India’s defence goals, there are concerns over the depth of technology transfer in big items.
• Nuclear Liability Concerns: Despite a civil nuclear agreement in 2008 and plans for reactors at Jaitapur, progress has been slow.
  • The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (2010) poses hurdles for French firms as it imposes liability on suppliers in the event of a nuclear accident.
• Geopolitical Differences: France’s strong economic ties with China sometimes dilute full alignment with India on Indo-Pacific issues.
  • Differences in approach to Middle East geopolitics occasionally diverge.

Future Outlook

• Horizon 2047 Roadmap envisions: To mark the 25th anniversary of the Indo-French partnership, both countries agreed to adopt a roadmap to set the course for the bilateral relationship up to 2047.
  • Joint development and production of advanced defence technologies.
  • Export of jointly developed products to third countries for global good.
  • Deeper maritime and space security cooperation.
  • Growing convergence in the Indo-Pacific through strategic dialogue and joint military presence.

Conclusion

• India–France defence cooperation is a cornerstone of their wider Strategic Partnership. 
• With shared interests in sovereignty, multilateralism, and regional stability, both countries are set to elevate ties further under the Horizon 2047 vision — making defence ties more collaborative, innovative, and export-oriented.

Source: TH