Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, is due to arrive in the Indian capital on Thursday on a one-day trip to finalize the bilateral agenda and possible outcomes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Paris next week.
While South Block is tight-lipped about the visit, learns that Bonne will hold intensive talks with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval; he is also expected to call Prime Minister Narendra Modi that night before leaving for France.
Bonne and Doval are counterparts in the India-France Strategic Dialogue and know each other well, and Thursday’s meetings are expected to pave the way for a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Macron on July 13 and a Bastille Day gala show on July 14.
India and France are close allies with a common interest in the fight against terrorism and in the Indo-Pacific. The two countries have deep political ties – to the extent that France does not supply weapons or platforms to India’s adversaries in the north and west.
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France has offered to jointly develop and manufacture higher thrust engines in India to power a future twin-engine fighter aircraft developed by DRDO. While strategic ties between India and France are very deep, Paris has also offered to build Scorpene submarines for other countries at Mazagon Dockyards Limited (MDL) to ensure that the current facility that completed the Kalveri class submarines under Project 75 will not be operational. sow for lack of orders. In addition, the French also offered to manufacture top-end missiles and munitions hang around in India under the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” route.
Although the Modi government is yet to take the final call, the Indian Navy has recommended the purchase of 26 (including eight training) Rafale-Maritime jet fighters for the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant through the G2G or government route after testing the aircraft along with the US produced F-18 fighter jets last year at a test facility at coast of Goa. This decision may be taken later as INS Vikrant is currently undergoing refit at Cochin Shipyard.
As both India and France look to make Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Paris a landmark one, Bonne and Doval are expected to exchange views on the current environment in Europe in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine and review the situation in the Indo-Pacific with The Chinese. The PLA is expanding its footprint into the Far Pacific and even into the Atlantic Ocean.
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