Scorpene submarines, combat aircraft engine deal dropped from Indo-France partnership document

An earlier document, featuring an agreement between MDL and Naval Group, as well as 'a roadmap' to jointly develop combat aircraft engines, has been taken down.

The final version of the India-France joint partnership document - issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) - dropped a section mentioning an agreement for procuring three Scorpene submarines and the finalisation of joint development of a combat aircraft engine, which had featured in an earlier version of the document uploaded on the Ministry's website.

The document titled "Horizon 2047: 25th Anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership, Towards A Century of India-France Relations" noted that two sides welcomed the agreement between Mazgaon Dockyard Ltd (MDL) and France's Naval Group for the construction of three additional submarines under the P-75 programme. However, the updated version available on the MEA's website does not have that portion.

The final version was uploaded after delegation-level talks were held between the two nations, headed by PM Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

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Now, The Indian Express has reported that the two sides "could not complete negotiations" over “details”, “timelines” and on some “confidential specifications”. “The negotiators tried to close the two deals in time, so that they could include the lines in the document. But that could not be wrapped up by the summit meeting… It went down to the wire, till the Prime Minister and the French President met and discussed the matter… but could not be closed,” a source told the publication.

The earlier version of the statement, which featured a reference to the agreement between MDL and Naval Group, as well as "a roadmap" to jointly develop combat aircraft engines, was uploaded “by mistake” on the MEA's website, sources told the publication.

The publication noted that the “unintended error” was perhaps a sign that the two sides could not complete negotiations in time, despite the finalisation of the deal being on the cards.

The document now reads “India and France hail the success of the first Scorpene submarine construction programme (P75 – Kalvari), a model of Make in India and the sharing of naval expertise between companies in the two countries. India and France are ready to explore more ambitious projects to develop the Indian submarine fleet and its performance.” The Project-75 (India) was originally conceived in the late 1990s for the procurement of diesel-electric submarines for the Indian Navy. What has been dropped is the agreement between MDL and Naval Group to build three additional submarines.

A sentence that read, “They welcome the MoU between Mazagon Dockyard Ltd and Naval Group for the construction of three additional submarines under the P75 programme” does not feature in the final version.

With regard to the joint engine development, the document now reads : “In line with their outstanding cooperation in military aviation spanning over five decades, India and France welcome the timely delivery of the 36 Rafale ordered by India. In the future, India and France will extend their ground-breaking defence cooperation in advanced aeronautical technologies by supporting the joint development of a combat aircraft engine. They also support industrial cooperation for motorization of heavy-lift helicopters under the Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH) programme with Safran Helicopter Engine, France. To enable progress on the IMRH programme, a Shareholders’ Agreement between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India and Safran Helicopter Engine, France has been concluded for engine development. These ventures are in line with the spirit of trust that prevails between India and France in the sharing and joint development of critical components and technology building blocks, based on the successful Indo-French experience in technology transfer.”

However a further sentence, “A roadmap on this project will be prepared between Safran and DRDO before the end of this year”, which featured in the draft, was dropped from the final version of the document.

(With PTI inputs)