The two countries agreed to work together on joint production of defence equipment, including helicopters and submarines for the Indian armed forces and friendly countries, New Delhi announced. The Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs, for his part, announced that the Indian group Tata and the French Airbus had signed an agreement to manufacture civil helicopters jointly.
According to the press release, French President Emmanual Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to expand bilateral ties in defence equipment production, nuclear energy, space research, and using artificial intelligence for public services such as climate change, health and agriculture. The value of the agreements was not specified. After Russia, France is India's most important arms supplier, which has relied on its fighter jets for four decades.
