Macron invites India's PM Modi to be France's guest of honour at Bastille Day parade

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.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi prior to a meeting at the Elysee palace in Paris, Wednesday, May 4, 2022. AP - Francois Mori

"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."

Cher Narendra, heureux de t'accueillir à Paris comme invité d'honneur du défilé du 14 juillet !

प्रिय नरेंद्र, 14 जुलाई की परेड के सम्मानित अतिथिके रूप में तुम्हारा पेरिस में स्वागत कर के मुझे बहुतखुशी होगी। pic.twitter.com/XTJi4MiE0E

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 5, 2023

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 "Defence Dialogue", launched in 2018.

India also purchased France's Rafale fighterjets and Scorpene submarines.

• France, India step up military allegiance with offer of more Rafale jets

India and France also have a history of collaboration in space, with joint research programmes and satellite launches. France supports India's human space flight programme and has supplied components for the Indian space programme.

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 cooperation

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 partner of India during the cold war and is still regarded as a friend.

India has refrained from criticising Russia's invasion of Ukraine and continues to engage in arms trading with Moscow, despite US sanctions.

France and India already engage in joint military exercises that critics say are aimed at containing China, with which New Delhi has an uneasy relationship due to unsolved border issues.

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French arms company Thales probed over suspicions of corruption in India

France's public prosecutor investigates possible corruption related to the sales of Mirage-2000 fighter jets to India "foreign public officials" and money laundering.

Sanjay Bhandari, an Indian intermediary living in the UK, claims to have helped Thales secure a contract for the renovation of Mirage-2000 aircraft in India, in exchange for €20 million on an offshore bank account.

In 2011, India signed an €1.4 billion modernization contract with Paris, to be shared between Thales and French aviation powerhouse Dassault, for its fleet of 51 Mirage-2000 acquired in the 1980s.

Mr. Bhandari, who says he was paid only part of the money, filed a claim with the Nanterre Commercial Court to for the remaining €11 million.

The court threw out the request on October 28 citing lack of evidence, but Mr. Bhandari says he had reached an oral agreement for his payment resulting in Thales winning the contract.

Thales rejects the allegations, telling the French press agency AFP that it "has not entered into any contract with Mr. Bhandari."

Financial investigators in Paris also looked into the conditions of the sale of 36 Rafale jets by France to India in September 2016, for a value of 7.8 billion euros, since June 2021.

(With agencies)