{"id":64256,"date":"2026-01-14T18:26:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T12:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=64256"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:18:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:48:58","slug":"38th-india-france-strategic-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-01-2026\/38th-india-france-strategic-dialogue","title":{"rendered":"38th India-France Strategic Dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/IR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India and France reaffirmed their strategic partnership during the<strong> 38th India-France Strategic Dialogue,<\/strong> co-chaired by National Security Adviser and Diplomatic Adviser to the French President.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India and France discussed ongoing bilateral initiatives<\/strong> spanning the domains of security, defence, technology, space, and civil nuclear cooperation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Opportunities were explored for joint-development and collaboration<\/strong> in the spirit of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Highlights of the India-France Relations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India\u2013France Strategic Partnership: <\/strong>It was launched on 26 January 1998 and is India\u2019s first-ever Strategic Partnership.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Core vision:<\/strong> Enhance strategic autonomy and deepen bilateral cooperation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Key Strategic Pillars: <\/strong>Defence and security, Civil nuclear cooperation and Space collaboration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Expanding areas: <\/strong>Indo-Pacific cooperation, maritime security, digitalisation, cyber security, climate change, sustainable development, advanced technologies, and, counter-terrorism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defence Cooperation:<\/strong> It is<strong> <\/strong>reviewed via the Annual Defence Dialogue (Minister-level) and High Committee on Defence Cooperation (HCDC) (Secretary-level).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rafale Fighter Jets:<\/strong> India procured 36 Rafales from Dassault Aviation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scorpene Submarines (Project P-75): <\/strong>Collaboration with France\u2019s Naval Group, 6 submarines built in India; latest is INS Vaghsheer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Combat Aircraft Engine Development: <\/strong>HAL and France\u2019s Safran Helicopter Engines signed an agreement under the IMRH programme to co-develop engines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recently both nations formally concluded an <strong>Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to procure 26 Rafale-M fighter jets for the Indian Navy.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Future plans: <\/strong>Co-development of next-gen fighter jet engines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Joint Exercises: <\/strong>Shakti, Varuna, FRINJEX-23.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Cooperation:&nbsp; <\/strong>Within the European Union, <strong>France remains India\u2019s fifth-largest trading partner,<\/strong> following the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Germany.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The bilateral trade between India and France has<strong> more than doubled<\/strong> in the last decade to <strong>USD 15.11 Billion<\/strong> in 2023-24.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Both countries are also moving to<strong> jointly develop technologies and integrate existing technologies.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The process of <strong>enabling Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has been successful in France.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>French technologies<\/strong> especially in renewables, sustainable manufacturing and urban infrastructure development are being integrated in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Space Cooperation: <\/strong>There is a over 60 years of collaboration between ISRO and CNES (French space agency)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>France is a key supplier of components, launch services (Arianespace).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Joint missions: <\/strong>TRISHNA (satellite mission), MDA systems, ground station support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Energy Cooperation:&nbsp;<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>International Solar Alliance (ISA): <\/strong>Co-founded by India and France in 2015 to promote solar energy worldwide.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nuclear Energy Cooperation: <\/strong>The first meeting of the special task force on nuclear energy in the framework of the Indo-French Strategic Dialogue, was convened in 2025.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>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).&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Community: <\/strong>There are an estimated 1,19,000 Indian communities in France, largely originating from erstwhile French colonies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Areas of Concern<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Trade Imbalance: <\/strong>Bilateral trade remains below potential, especially compared to India\u2019s trade with other EU nations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technology Transfer &amp; Defence Restrictions: <\/strong>While France has supported India\u2019s defence goals, there are concerns over the depth of technology transfer in big items.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nuclear Liability Concerns: <\/strong>Despite a civil nuclear agreement in 2008 and plans for reactors at Jaitapur, progress has been slow.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Geopolitical Differences: <\/strong>France&#8217;s strong economic ties with China may sometimes dilute full alignment with India on Indo-Pacific issues.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Differences in approach to Middle East geopolitics (e.g., stance on Iran, Israel\u2013Palestine) occasionally diverge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Future Outlook<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Horizon 2047 Roadmap envisions: <\/strong>To mark the <strong>25th anniversary<\/strong> of the Indo-French partnership, both countries agreed to adopt a roadmap to set the course for the bilateral relationship up to 2047.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Joint development and production of advanced defence technologies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Export of jointly developed products to third countries for global good.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deeper maritime and space security cooperation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Growing convergence in the Indo-Pacific through strategic dialogue and joint military presence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2013France defence cooperation is a cornerstone of their wider Strategic Partnership.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With shared interests in sovereignty, multilateralism, and regional stability, both countries are set to elevate ties further under the Horizon 2047 vision \u2014 making defence ties more collaborative, innovative, and export-oriented.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ddnews.gov.in\/en\/india-france-reaffirm-strategic-partnership-at-38th-strategic-dialogue-in-new-delhi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DD<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India and France reaffirmed their strategic partnership during the 38th India-France Strategic Dialogue, co-chaired by National Security Adviser and Diplomatic Adviser to the French President.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India and France discussed ongoing bilateral initiatives spanning the domains of security, defence, technology, space, and civil nuclear cooperation. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Opportunities were explored for joint-development and collaboration in the spirit of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-01-2026\/38th-india-france-strategic-dialogue\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64256"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64283,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64256\/revisions\/64283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}