The Author is Former Director General of Information Systems and A Special Forces Veteran, Indian Army

French President Emannuel Macron's three-day visit to India in February 2026 witnessed an upgrade of India-France ties to a 'Special Global Strategic Partnership'. Both sides have set up a 'comprehensive dialogue' between foreign ministers to review implementation of this enhanced partnership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Macron virtually inaugurated the final assembly line for the H125 light utility helicopter being jointly manufactured by Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems outside Bengaluru. Both sides inked an amendment of their bilateral tax treaty to avoid double taxation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Macron virtually inaugurated the final assembly line for the H125 light utility helicopter being jointly manufactured by Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems

Addressing the media in Mumbai, Prime Minister Modi situated the Indo-French relationship in "today's turbulent era", saying it is "not merely strategic" but a "force for global stability", against the backdrop of the Donald Trump administration's unsettling international relations and use of tariffs. Macron echoed this, saying that the bilateral relationship is "in a phase of remarkable acceleration in response to the transformation of the international order". "We believe in international trade. We reject methods of coercion. And that is why the FTA between India and the European Union is an important step that France strongly supports," he said.

Concurrently, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin held the annual bilateral defence dialogue, renewing their 10-year defence cooperation agreement. Both announced reciprocal deployment of Indian Army and French Land Forces officers, and formalised a joint venture between Bharat Electronics Limited and France's Safran to produce the 'HAMMER' air-to-surface missile in India. The French delegation was on the heels of India green lighting procurement of 114 French Rafale jets.

Both announced reciprocal deployment of Indian Army and French Land Forces officers, and formalised a joint venture between Bharat Electronics Limited and France's Safran to produce the 'HAMMER' air-to-surface missile in India

Important highlights of the joint statement issued during Macron's visit are given below:

Rafale M

Tata Advanced Systems' Final Assembly Line for the Airbus H125 Helicopter at Vemagal, in Karnataka.

AASM Hammer Missile

• The 2026 India-France Year of Innovation in Mumbai was jointly inaugurated on February 17. This year will feature a series of high-impact collaborations in India and France spanning diverse sectors.
• Agreement to elevate relations to a "Special Global Strategic Partnership", having celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership in 2023, adopting the Horizon 2047 Roadmap to set the course for the bilateral relationship up to 2047.
• Macron congratulated Modi on India's successful organization of the AI Impact Summit. Both sides affirmed democratizing AI resources and bridging the global AI divide.
• Macron invited the Indian Prime Minister to the 2026 G7 Summit in France, and recalled the earlier invitation to Modi for the 'Africa Forward: Partnerships between Africa and France for Innovation and Growth Summit' in Nairobi (Kenya) during May 2026.
• Reaffirmed commitment to a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, and reiterated their call for reformed and effective multilateralism.
• Stressed urgent need to reform the UNSC, including regulating of use of veto.
• Welcomed the India-EU FTA and Security and Defence Partnership.
• Reiterated concern over the war in Ukraine and developments in Iran and the region, calling for lasting peace through dialogue and diplomacy.
• Supported implementation of the Peace Plan for Gaza and reiterated commitment for a lasting solution, based on the two-state solution.
• Agreed to intensify joint research, co-design, co-development and co-production of advanced defence platforms, including in the field of air, naval and land systems, and emerging dual-use technologies, in line with the Defence Industrial Roadmap agreed in 2024.
• Agreed to constitute a Joint Advanced Technology Development Group to explore opportunities to co-develop emerging and critical technologies in identified niche areas.
• Welcomed furthering defence cooperation, commended the contract to procure 26 Rafale (M) and strengthen partnership in defence aeronautics, especially in manufacturing fighter aircraft and combat aircraft engines.
• Welcomed inauguration of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility for LEAP engine; facility for M-88 engines mounted on Rafale aircraft.
• Appreciated regular conduct of bilateral military exercises in all domains, welcomed conduct of regular port calls and looked forward to increasing operational engagements between both militaries.
• Reaffirmed commitment to deepen bilateral cooperation indefence space.
• Welcomed the Joint Declaration of Intent on cooperation in the field of critical minerals between France and India.
• Reaffirmed commitment to cooperate on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) - the first IMEC Ministerial Meeting for advancing this initiative is in 2026.
• Appreciated cooperation in trilateral formats with Australia and the UAE, and directed officials to work with Australia and the UAE to implement identified areas.
• Reaffirmed commitment to a free, open, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific, called for closer collaboration, and looked forward to enhanced engagement under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and strengthening cooperation in the Indian Ocean Rim Association.
• India welcomed scheduling of the International Space Summit in July 2026 in France. Both stressed the importance of deepening cooperation between their major oceanographic institutions and developing synergies in the Ocean-Space nexus to improve ocean observation in relation to oceanographic fleets and support sustainable management.
• Strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations including cross border terrorism. India expressed support to France hosting the next No Money For Terror (NMFT) Conference being held in Paris in May 2026.
• Recognized worsening impacts of climate change, reaffirmed the importance of the Paris Agreement and agreed to cooperate for its effective implementation, promoting sustainable lifestyles.
• Recalling the bilateral Declaration of Intent (DoI) for establishing cooperation on Small and Advanced Modular Reactors (SMR/AMR) signed in 2025, both noted efforts to strengthen cooperation between French start-up companies and relevant Indian companies in this sector.
• Reaffirmed commitment to realize untapped economic potential, including through MSMEs, startups, digitalization, AI and innovation-driven enterprises.
• Welcomed amendment to the bilateral tax treaty, which will secure economic activity both ways and pave the way for greater investments and collaborations between the two countries.
• Reaffirmed commitment to cooperate and enhance health and education-related issues, people-to-people relations, and deepen cultural ties, particularly in the context of the India–France Year of Innovation 2026.

Both welcomed amendment to the bilateral tax treaty, which will secure economic activity both ways and pave the way for greater investments and collaborations between the two countries.

Macron confirmed that India-made weapons can be integrated into Rafale fighter jets, supporting India's "Make in India" initiative; expressing commitment to increasing indigenous content. But the question remains as to which indigenous weapons and what percentage of indigenous content? Where secure data links to allow digital integration of the jets with Indian radars and sensors would be needed, Dassault will need to make changes in the software of the onboard computing system of the jets to weave in a seamless command system for weapons and data transmission. Rafale F4 deliveries under Make-in-India are expected to commence only from 2030. Also, the last delivery of the 114 Rafales is unlikely before 2038, which will include some F5 versions. However, the disturbing part is that the source codes for the aircraft's core software would remain under French control forever. With a $39-40 billion deal, India should have insisted on 100% technology transfer, especially when Russia was giving 100% for the Su-57E.

Macron confirmed that India-made weapons can be integrated into Rafale fighter jets, supporting India's 'Make in India' initiative; expressing commitment to increasing indigenous content

Talking about major conflicts of the world, Macron publicly said, "We must act to end the war of aggression waged by Russiain Ukraine and establish a just and lasting peace." But the fact is that Moscow was forced to initiate special operations in Ukraine since NATO's continued expansion posed an existential threat to Russia. Moreover, Ukraine is only a proxy of NATO; Russia is fighting NATO in Ukraine. Most important is the fact that while the US is withdrawing support to Ukraine, Macron is in the forefront of Europe fuelling the war in Ukraine against Russia – so much for Macron talking about a just and lasting peace! The irony is that this was not even pointed out in the Indian media during Macron's visit.