PM Modi's France visit to go beyond defence deals, says former ambassador

Rakesh Sood, former Ambassador of India, believes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France will not solely focus on defence matters but may also explore opportunities in the field of space technology and people-to-people connections.

Modi's visit to France on July 13 and 14 comes after receiving an invitation as the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day Parade from French President Emmanuel Macron. During his visit, the Prime Minister will engage with other French leaders, including Elisabeth Borne, Gerard Larcher, and Yael Braun-Pivet. Furthermore, he plans to meet with the Indian community in France and prominent CEOs from both countries.

Sood told CNBC-TV18 that the longstanding partnership between India and France in the space sector dates back to the 1970s. He also highlighted the increasing number of Indian students pursuing higher education in France.

"Defence is not going to be the only thing, I think we will probably see some announcements in the field of space cooperation. France has been an old partner in the field of space right from the 1970s onwards. So that is an area where we could probably see some developments or announcements. Third area could well be in the field of people-to-people connect. We have seen a boost in Indian students going to France for higher education. It used to be around 3,000 students per year, the idea was to take it up to 10,000 students by 2025, I understand that the target has already been crossed and now people are looking at increasing it to 20,000 over the next five years or so," Sood said.

Notably, on Thursday, India's defence ministry approved the proposed procurement of 26 Rafale marine aircrafts and cleared the acquisition of three additional Scorpene submarines. The Indian Navy seeks to obtain these 26 deck-based fighter jets for deployment on the indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

Retired Captain DK Sharma, former spokesperson for the Indian Navy, believes that India's defence sector has made remarkable progress in recent years, prioritising the enhancement of indigenous capabilities and reducing reliance on imports.

"Our own logistics is very robust. There are many MSMEs which have been brought in and have been encouraged to supply the spare parts and other machinery which are of international standards. So the indigenous content (IC) is increasing by the hour and the import dependency is going down. So we are going to reap huge advantage if we get this. This is a clear win-win in my opinion," Sharma said.