France’s President Emmanuel Macron was on a two-day state visit to India to attend the 75th Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest. During Macron’s visit, India and France signed deals for various sectors, including defence, space exploration, civil aviation, science and technology, health, public administration and urban development. The two nations have also made announcements of cooperation in several areas including UPI, renewable energy, visa issues, among other areas.
According to the ministry of external affairs, a letter of intent has been signed with France on defence space partnership. The documents concluded include an agreement between TATA Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus to set up an assembly line for H125 helicopters in India.
At the invitation of Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron paid a state visit to India as the chief guest for the 75th Republic Day of India. This is President Macron’s second state visit to India and the sixth visit by a French leader as guest of honour for the Republic Day. The presence of the French President in the 75th Republic Day of India is a symbol of shared commitment of India and France to democracy, liberty, equality, fraternity and justice, and is a tribute to the depth of friendship and the strength of the partnership between the two countries.
President Macron’s visit for India’s Republic Day follows PM Modi’s historic visit to France as Guest of Honour at the French National Day on 14 July 2023, during which the two leaders unveiled Horizon 2047 Roadmap to set an ambitious and broad-ranging course for the bilateral relationship for 2047, the centenary year of India’s independence. For the two leaders to be the Guests of Honour at the successive National days respectively, is unprecedented and a high point in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the declaration of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Prime Minister Modi and President Macron reaffirmed their shared vision for bilateral cooperation and international partnership, outlined in Horizon 2047 and other documents from the July 2023 Summit. They commended the progress in bilateral cooperation and committed to accelerating it further across the three broad pillars of bilateral cooperation – Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, Partnership for Planet and Partnership for People – to further reinforce their shared commitment to sovereignty and strategic autonomy. They held extensive discussions on the long-term global challenges and current international developments, and drawing from their converging interests and approaches, agreed to intensify their global and regional engagement, including through multilateral initiatives and institutions.
PM Modi and President Macron reiterated commitment to further deepen the long-standing partnership between the two countries, based on their common vision for the Indo-Pacific region. The leaders emphasized the region’s significance for their respective sovereign and strategic interests. They also acknowledged the crucial role of their partnership in the region for advancement of a free, open, inclusive, secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific and beyond. Referring to the Comprehensive Roadmap for the Indo-Pacific, which was finalised in July 2023, they expressed satisfaction at the expanding nature of their engagement in the region.
Defense and security partnership has been the cornerstone of India-France partnership in the Indo Pacific region, which include a comprehensive range of bilateral, multinational, regional and institutional initiatives, especially in the Indian Ocean Region. They also agreed to intensify their cooperation in the Southwest Indian Ocean, building on the joint surveillance missions carried out from the French island territory of La Reunion in 2020 and 2022. They also welcomed the extension of those interactions in India’s maritime neighbourhood. These interactions may contribute positively to the securitization of strategic sea lanes of communication. In addition, the two leaders welcomed the progress in bilateral dialogue and identification of specific opportunities for using India as a base for the manufacture and export of defense equipment for friendly countries in the region.
They also committed to revitalizing the trilateral cooperation with Australia, deepen the one with UAE and explore new ones in the region.
