Choppers to space, India and France seal key deals

India and France have agreed to a new road map for defence industrial cooperation to identify opportunities for partnership in the sector including co-designing, co-development and co-production of military hardware, the two countries will jointly produce a multi-mission helicopter in India, and French engine maker Safran is willing to transfer 100% technology to build fighter jet engines in the country, top officials said on Friday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron held extensive talks to deepen strategic ties.

The two counties have also reached agreements on defence space partnership, satellite launches, joint research in clean energy, health care cooperation, collaboration in the field of public administration, and activation of five-year validity of Schengen visas for Indian students pursuing their Master's degree in France, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said, briefing the media on the outcome of the talks between the two leaders.

In a joint statement issued late in the evening, the two sides said Modi and Macron reaffirmed the India-France Strategic Partnership that "can help build prosperity and resilience in their economies, advance their countries' security, and a more sustainable and healthier future for the planet, seek solutions for global challenges, reinvigorate multilateralism and help build a stable international order and a more cohesive and united world". The statement announced the opening of India's consulate in Marseille and a French bureau in Hyderabad.

"India and France reaffirmed their commitment to jointly address the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution," the statement added, citing Macron as affirming France's support for India's candidacy to the International Energy Agency. The two leaders reaffirmed their unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and shared their resolve to stand together in the common fight against global terrorism.

Tata and Airbus Helicopters will partner to produce the H125 helicopters in India with a significant indigenous and localisation component, Kwatra said.