PM Modi France visit: India to sign Rs 90,000 crore deals for 26 Rafale M aircraft, 3 Scorpene submarines; top 10 points to know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a state visit to France from July 14-16 to boost economic and defence cooperation between India and France and bolster strategic ties between European Union and India. Modi’s France visit comes weeks after his first US State visit, where he was given the honour of a White House state dinner in Washington. Among key points covered during Prime Minister Modi’s visit were arms deals, semiconductor investment, and enhancing space cooperation.  

Top points to know ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s France visit:  

1. One of the key highlights of this visit is the deals worth over Rs 90,000 crore to buy 26 Rafale M aircraft and three additional Scorpene submarines.  

2. The deals include 26 Rafale M aircraft including 22 single sweaters and four double sweater trainer versions.  

3. The three additional submarines will be a part of the Scorpene deal under Ministry of Defence’s Project 75 aimed at planned procurement of diesel-electric submarines for the Indian Navy, India Today reported citing top government sources. 
 
4. The deals will be placed before the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in the next few days before being announced in France.  

5. The multi-crore defence deals which will be signed and announced during the Prime Minister’s upcoming visit.  

6. Prime Minister Modi will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron as the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day celebrations in France. Indian troops will also join the annual Bastille Day military parade.  

7. With this, PM Modi will be the second Indian PM to get a red-carpet welcome at the Bastille Day parade after Dr Manmohan Singh in 2009.  

8. Strategic tie-ups to broaden engagement with Asia and other Western nations to check China’s growing assertive in the Pacific region will also be a part of this visit.  

9. Bilateral trade between India and France stands at EUR 10.7 billion with more than 1,000 French companies having a total turnover of more $20 billion. 210 Indian companies are operating in France with an investment stock of EUR 1 billion. 
 
10. France is the 11th largest foreign investor in India with a total FDI contribution of $10,389 million from April 2000-September 2022.  

(With India Today, agency inputs) 

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