India, France firm up defence ind roadmap

New Delhi: India and France have firmed up a defence industrial partnership roadmap that would provide for co-development and co-production of key military hardware and platforms and facilitate technology collaboration in a range of areas including space, land warfare, cyberspace and artificial intelligence.

Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, announcing key outcomes of the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in Jaipur last night, also said the Tatas and Airbus Helicopters have entered into a partnership for production of H125 choppers with significant indigenous components. At a media briefing Friday, Kwatra said the India-France defence industrial roadmap would also facilitate cooperation in areas of robotics, autonomous vehicles and cyber defence. He said an MoU was sealed between New Space India Ltd and France's Arianespace for cooperation in satellite launches. Modi and Macron also deliberated on the conflict in Gaza and its various dimensions including that of terrorism and humanitarian aspects, Kwatra said.