Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted French President Emmanuel Macron's invitation to be the guest of honour at France's traditional military parade held on Bastille day, 14 July, the French presidency said on Friday.
"An Indian armed forces contingent will take part in the parade alongside French forces", according to a joint statement by France and India, published on the Elysée website, adding Modi's visit will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the "strategic partnership" between France and India.
"This historic visit will also allow joint initiatives to take on the big challenges of our time, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity and the achievement of sustainable development targets."
According to a note by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, France and India " entered into a Strategic Partnership " in 1998 with as "principal pillars" defence & security cooperation, space cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation.
India sees cooperation in defence between New Delhi and Paris as "the cornerstone " of the strategic partnership, structured by the yearly ministerial leve "Defence Dialogue" which is being held since 2018.
India also purchased France's Raphael fighterjets and Scorpene submarines.
India and France also have a history of collaboration in space, with joint research programs and satellite launches. France supports India's human space flight program and has supplied components for the Indian space program.
In June 2022, the GSAT-24 communication satellite, built by ISRO for New Space India Ltd, was successfully launched from French Guiana. It will be used for Direct-To-Home communication for the next 15 years.
Nuclear coop
India and France also signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement during then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's visit to France in 2008. Subsequently, in December 2010, a cooperation agreement was signed for the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project between Indian and French power companies NPCIL and AREVA during French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to India.
India is also a member of the ITER project, which aims to build an experimental fusion reactor in Cadarache, France. The Department of Atomic Energy manages India's involvement in the ITER project.
But Macron is probably most interested in strengthening ties with India to try and pull New Delhi away from Russia, which was a formidable parter of India during the cold war and still is regarded as a friend. India has also refrained itself from criticising Russia's invasion of Ukraine and continues to engage in weapon trade with Moscow, in spite of US sanctions.
France and India already engage in joint military exercises that critics say are aimed at containing China, with which New Delhi is engaged in an uneasy relationship over unsolved border issues.
(With agencies)
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