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India, France clinch strategic deal to use each other's military bases

New Delhi: Reflecting a growing depth in defence ties, India and France on Saturday inked a strategic pact providing for the use of each other's military facilities including opening naval bases to warships, an agreement that comes amid China's growing military expansionism in the Indo-Pacific region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron held wide-ranging deliberations during which they also decided to create an annual defence dialogue at the ministerial level to explore ways to further deepen defence and strategic ties.
The two countries signed a pact on exchange and reciprocal protection of classified or protected information which came in the backdrop of the Indian government refusing to divulge details of the multi-billion dollar Indo-French Rafale fighter jet deal. On ties in the maritime security sphere, the French President said both the countries will have "unprecedented" level of cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the Indian Ocean and in Pacific.
He said that the space agencies of the two countries will have joint monitoring mechanism for developments in the maritime sphere, while navies of the two nations will share intelligence and call their respective military bases for any requirement. Separately, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her French counterpart Florence Parly held talks during which detailed discussions on specific projects including on the Scorpene submarine programme for the Indian Navy was discussed.
A joint statement issued after the talks said the pact on protection of classified information reflected the high level of "strategic trust" between the two countries. It said Modi and Macron noted with satisfaction that the "on-schedule" progress in the implementation of acquisition related agreements, including the Rafale aircraft deal and the construction of six Scorpene submarines in India, in collaboration with French shipbuilder Naval Group.
"They looked forward to continue their discussions to expand and deepen the ongoing defence manufacturing partnerships," the joint statement said. The Indo-French agreement on reciprocal logistics support for armed forces came nearly two years after India signed a similar pact with the US on use of each other's land, air and naval bases.
Officials said that the agreement will facilitate the reciprocal provision of logistic support, supplies and services between the armed forces of the two countries during authorised port visits, joint exercises and joint training among others. "The agreement is symbolic of the strategic depth and maturity reached in India-France defence ties," the joint statement said.
"Our defence cooperation is very strong and we consider France among the most trusted defence partners," Modi said in a statement to the media, in the presence of Macron. He said that the pact on reciprocal logistic support between the armed forces is a "golden step" in defence relations.
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