India–France: Seven Decades of Strategic Partnership

India ordered 71 Dassault MD.450 Ouragan jet fighters in 1953, with the aircraft designated Toofani in Indian Air Force service. India later acquired additional second-hand Ouragans from France, bringing the type into a wider post-independence fleet that mixed British, Soviet, and French aircraft. The episode established France as an early Western combat-aircraft supplier to independent India, but the available record supports procurement rather than licensed Indian production.

India acquired 110 Dassault Mystère IVA swept-wing fighters from France, with deliveries beginning in 1957. The aircraft were purchased as complete flyaway units, deepening India's operational familiarity with French aviation technology. The Mystère IVA served with distinction in both the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani wars. Together with the Toofani, these two programmes embedded France as the primary Western supplier of combat aviation to the IAF at a formative period in India's air power development.

After evaluating competing offers from the United States (F-16), the Soviet Union (MiG-23), and France (Mirage 2000), India selected the Mirage 2000 for its air superiority requirements. The deal, signed in 1982 for 36 single-seat Mirage 2000H and four twin-seat Mirage 2000TH aircraft built in France, was strategically significant: India chose a Western aircraft during the Cold War while maintaining Soviet-origin equipment, underscoring its non-aligned posture. The Mirage 2000 has been widely reported as India's primary nuclear-capable delivery aircraft, though India has not officially confirmed which platforms carry nuclear weapons.

In May 1998, India conducted the Pokhran-II nuclear tests. Unlike the United States, which imposed sanctions under domestic law, France criticised the tests but did not impose comparable bilateral sanctions. In January 1998, ahead of the tests, President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had already agreed to elevate the relationship to a Strategic Partnership — the first such designation France extended to a non-European country. France's choice to keep strategic engagement open after Pokhran-II helped consolidate India's trust in France as a long-term partner.

India's Ministry of Defence signed a contract with DCNS (now Naval Group) of France and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) for the construction of six Scorpène-class conventional submarines under Project 75. Valued at approximately US$3.75 billion, the deal included technology transfer arrangements allowing MDL to build the submarines at Mumbai. The programme represented the most complex naval construction project India had undertaken and marked France's entry as a primary maritime defence partner.

India issued a Request for Proposal for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (M-MRCA) in 2007. Following technical evaluations, the IAF shortlisted the Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon in 2011, then declared the Rafale the winner of the competition in January 2012 based on lowest life-cycle cost. Negotiations for 18 flyaway aircraft and 108 licence-built by HAL stalled over price escalation, transfer of technology terms, and maintenance guarantees, leading India to cancel the original 126-aircraft tender in 2015.

India and France signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement in September 2008, following the landmark US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement of 2007 that ended India's nuclear isolation. The agreement opened the way for French nuclear technology exports to India. EDF and AREVA proposed construction of up to six European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) at Jaitapur, Maharashtra, which would give India the world's largest nuclear power station by installed capacity (9,900 MW) when complete.

During President Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to India in December 2009, France and India signed a memorandum of understanding for the Jaitapur nuclear power plant. Sarkozy attended the ceremony with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The MoU confirmed France as the technology provider for India's largest civil nuclear project and included commitments on fuel supply and liability arrangements — the latter a key Indian concern given domestic nuclear liability legislation then under active parliamentary consideration.

India and France signed an upgrade contract in 2011 for India's Mirage 2000 fleet to the Mirage 2000I standard — a customised configuration incorporating a new radar, navigation systems, and precision strike capabilities developed by Dassault and Thales. The upgrade, executed with HAL participation, extended the Mirage 2000's service life into the 2020s. The aircraft's combat-proven role in the 1999 Kargil conflict — where it delivered laser-guided bombs in high-altitude operations — had reinforced India's confidence in French combat systems and made the upgrade a strategic priority.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Paris in April 2015, he announced that India would purchase 36 Rafale aircraft in flyaway condition directly from France, abandoning the stalled 126-aircraft tender. The announcement was made at a joint press conference with President François Hollande. The shift from a competitive tender with HAL production to a government-to-government deal for ready-to-fly aircraft was a significant departure from India's established procurement approach and became the subject of sustained domestic political controversy.

India and France signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement for the supply of 36 Rafale multi-role fighters in September 2016. The deal, valued at approximately Rs 59,000 crore (approximately €7.8 billion), was India's largest single defence procurement at the time. The agreement included India-specific enhancements (radar warning receivers, low-band jammers, infra-red search and track systems), 50 per cent offset obligations, and a five-year maintenance package. Deliveries commenced in July 2020 when the first five aircraft landed at Ambala Air Base.

Mazagon Dock delivered the first five Scorpène submarines to the Indian Navy between 2017 and 2023: INS Kalvari (2017), INS Khanderi (2019), INS Karanj (2021), INS Vela (2021), and INS Vagir (January 2023). Each vessel incorporates French DCNS technology for hull, propulsion, combat management, and weapon systems. The programme suffered delays of approximately five years from the original schedule, partly attributed to design integration challenges and supply chain issues at MDL.

Deliveries of all 36 Rafale aircraft under the 2016 IGA were completed in December 2022, ahead of the contracted schedule. The IAF formed two dedicated Rafale squadrons: No. 17 Squadron 'Golden Arrows' at Ambala and No. 101 Squadron 'Falcons of Chamb and Akhnoor' at Hashimara. The aircraft entered operational service with India-specific enhancements including integration with Indian weapons systems and the Hammer air-to-ground precision munition.

The Tata-owned Air India announced a commitment to order 250 Airbus aircraft in February 2023, comprising 210 A320-family narrowbody jets and 40 A350 widebodies, in a deal valued at over US$35 billion at list prices. Air India later firmed up the Airbus order at the Paris Air Show in June 2023, at the same time it signed purchase agreements for its broader 470-aircraft Airbus-and-Boeing fleet expansion. The Airbus order significantly expanded the commercial aviation pillar of the India–France industrial relationship.

India's Defence Acquisition Council granted Acceptance of Necessity for procurement of 26 Rafale Marine aircraft for the Indian Navy from the French government through an Inter-Governmental Agreement route. The July 2023 decision was a procurement clearance, not the final signed contract: price, terms, Indian-designed equipment integration, and maintenance arrangements remained subject to negotiation. It placed Rafale Marine on the formal path to equip India's carrier aviation force.

Prime Minister Modi's state visit to Paris in July 2023, timed to coincide with Bastille Day (where Indian troops led the parade for the first time), produced a joint statement elevating the India–France relationship to a "Special Global Strategic Partnership." The designation signalled a deepening beyond standard strategic partnership frameworks and was accompanied by new commitments in space, cyber, clean energy, and defence industrial cooperation. Modi was the guest of honour at the Bastille Day celebrations.

During President Macron's state visit to India in January 2024 — when he was chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on 26 January — the two countries reaffirmed the Horizon 2047 roadmap unveiled during Modi's July 2023 Paris visit. The joint statement framed the relationship around sovereignty, strategic autonomy, defence, space, civil nuclear, and digital cooperation. The visit also produced commitments on defence-industrial cooperation, including submarine cooperation and advanced aircraft engine work.

The January 2024 India–France joint statement placed defence aeronautics, including combat-aircraft engines, inside the bilateral defence-industrial roadmap. India’s ambassador to France also said discussions with Safran were focused on a fighter-engine arrangement aligned with India’s future combat-aircraft requirements and advanced technology transfer. The public record supports a deepening engine-cooperation track, but not a completed SAFRAN–GTRE–HAL AMCA engine contract.

INS Vaghsheer, the sixth and final Scorpène/Kalvari-class submarine under Project 75, was delivered to the Indian Navy on 9 January 2025 and commissioned on 15 January 2025 at Mumbai. The event completed the original six-submarine Project 75 line built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders with French Scorpène design and Naval Group technology-transfer support. It concluded a programme that transferred significant submarine construction, integration, and maintenance expertise to Indian industry.

India and France signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement for 26 Rafale Marine aircraft for the Indian Navy on 28 April 2025. The package covered 22 single-seat and four twin-seat aircraft, training, simulators, associated equipment, weapons, performance-based logistics, and additional equipment for the IAF's existing Rafale fleet. PIB placed the value at approximately Rs 63,000 crore in an explanatory note, while Dassault described the contract as making the Indian Navy the first Rafale Marine user outside France.

On 12 February 2026, India's Defence Acquisition Council approved Acceptance of Necessity for Multi Role Fighter Aircraft {Rafale} for the Indian Air Force as part of capital acquisition proposals valued at about Rs 3.60 lakh crore. On 1 June 2026, ETGovernment, citing ANI and Defence Ministry sources, reported that India's Acquisition Wing had issued a Letter of Request to France for a government-to-government package worth about Rs 3.25 lakh crore to buy 114 Rafales, with 94 aircraft expected to be manufactured in India. This was a formal procurement-process milestone, not a signed aircraft contract.