India-France defence cooperation reflects strategic autonomy push

France has emerged as India's most consequential European partner, with defence manufacturing, Rafale jets and technology transfer anchoring a deepened strategic alignment

Less than a month after India and the European Union (EU) signed a long-awaited “mother of all trade deals”, New Delhi significantly expanded its ties with the EU’s second-largest economy, France. The convivial optics of French President Emmanuel Macron’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi — Mr Macron jogging down Marine Drive and sharing a photo of a car ride with Mr Modi labelled “Jai Ho” — were matched by potentially game-changing agreements to further India’s manufacturing capabilities in defence. This significant expansion of cooperation upgrades the strategic partnership between the two countries to a “Special Global Strategic Partnership”. Key to these closer bilateral ties is a series of joint ventures such as that between aerospace major Safran and public-sector Bharat Electronics Ltd to make HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) precision-grounded ground-to-air weapons and the inauguration of the H125 final assembly line, which is a helicopter-manufacturing facility, the first of its kind, between Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus. France is also reportedly considering the purchase of India’s Pinaka multiple rocket-launcher system. 

Deeper foundations for closer cooperation and technology transfer, however, rest on the details of the potential $40 billion deal for India to buy 114 Rafale fighter jets, which the Defence Acquisition Council approved just ahead of Mr Macron’s three-day visit. Being India’s largest ever defence deal, it is expected to augment its under-strength squadrons and reduce the Indian Air Force’s fighter-aircraft diversity. This deal is in addition to the 26 Rafale-Marine fighter jets that India contracted to buy last year and the 36 Rafale fighters bought in 2016. Though much has been made of the fact that India’s order will strengthen Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation’s global market presence, the deal, which is expected to be signed over the next few months, is expected to play a role in furthering the government’s “atmanirbhar” manufacturing philosophy. With a significantly increased number of these aircraft to be built domestically and with a 30 per cent indigenous content, this deal is expected to involve private-sector manufacturers in a major way, marking a significant shift from the earlier focus of restricting technology transfer only to state-owned enterprises such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. 

These deals further the Horizon 2047 road map on the bilateral relationship adopted in 2023, the 25th anniversary of the strategic partnership, when a contingent of Indian soldiers famously marched down the Champs-Elysees to the strains of Sare Jahan Se Accha. A range of other collaborative arrangements — for scientific and AI innovation, critical minerals and metals, startups, health, skilling and so on — rounds off a visit that has proved mutually beneficial to both countries, especially given their complex relations with China and the United States. Coming soon after the mid-January visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, leader of the EU’s largest economy, Mr Macron’s visit has signalled an important shift in the tonality of diplomatic engagement as both sides negotiate the fine print of the Indo-EU free-trade agreement. At a time when India is also engaged in hard bargaining with the US over the nitty-gritty of a bilateral trade agreement, the support of the EU’s most consequential economies, too, could prove invaluable.