'More than strategic partners': Macron defines India-France ties as one of a kind

New Delhi: Days after India decided to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets from France, French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said "Make in India" will be a "core" component of the programme.

He said France is also looking at expanding cooperation on submarines with India. The French president was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the AI Impact summit.

"We just do not have strategic partnership, we have a special global strategic partnership which is unique both for India and France," he said, responding to a question.

India and France on Tuesday elevated their relations to a "special global strategic partnership" following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Macron in Mumbai.

The French president said the two sides are expanding their cooperation in a range of areas including defence, innovation and trade.

To a question on the Rafale procurement programme, he said France wants to improve cooperation in maintenance and capacity building aspects.

Few days ago, India confirmed its willingness to procure a new batch of Rafale... and Make in India will be a core aspect of it, he said. "It is a new step forward to clearly consolidate the existing cooperation," he said.

In its largest-ever defence acquisition push, India last week cleared the long-pending proposal to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets under a government-to-government framework with France.

Under the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) project, 18 aircraft will be supplied by Dassault Aviation, the maker of Rafale, in a fly away condition and the rest will be manufactured in India with around 50 per cent indigenous content that will be to be met in phases, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move to procure the jets has come at a time when the number of the Indian Air Force's fighter squadrons have gone down to 31 from officially sanctioned strength of 42.

In 2015, the Modi government announced a government-to-government framework to procure 36 Rafale fighters. The Indian Air Force is now operating the jets.

Last year, the Indian Navy sealed a Rs 64,000 crore deal to procure 26 marine variants of the Rafale jet.

France is also looking at finalising a programme to build three Scorpene submarines. The submarines are proposed to be jointly constructed by state-run Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and French defence major Naval Group.

Under the Indian Navy's Project 75, six Scorpene submarines have already been constructed by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in collaboration with the Naval Group.