India’s External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid, will visit France from 10-11 January. He will meet his counterpart Laurent Fabius, and French President Francois Hollande, to discuss India-France civil nuclear cooperation.
Both sides will also deliberate on trade, investment, and defence cooperation.
The India-France bilateral relationship has traditionally been friendly in nature. France is the first country to enter into an agreement with India on nuclear energy following the waiver given by International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group. The India-France Agreement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation was signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to France in September 2008. France is the 9th largest foreign investor in India, with the bilateral trade between the two pegged at € 7.46 billion in 2011.
The two sides have also instituted a National Security Advisor-level strategic dialogue to discuss global security and emerging challenges. This bilateral relationship has seen significant cooperation in defence since the first joint army exercise, ‘Shakti’, was conducted in India, in October 2011. In January 2012, the Indian government sealed a $11 billion deal with French aircraft manufacturer Dassault, to purchase 126 French-made Rafale combat aircrafts for the Indian Air Force.