India, France Find Common Cause On Counterterrorism

It should therefore come as no surprise that Mr. Hollande’s marked the fifth visit by a French President as Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade, something Mr. Modi referred to when he said India-France relations have “cleared every test over time”.

India and France today inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on the sale of 36 French fighter jets, Rafale. However, the leaders of both countries said there was still work to do to finalise financial terms of the Rafale fighter deal after months of talks.

Hollande also attended the “At Home” hosted by Mukherjee, where he once again met the vice-president, the prime minister and former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

The 67th Republic Day parade on New Delhi’s Rajpath on Tuesday was a spectacular display of India’s military might and rich cultural diversity. The deal is valued at around Rs.60,000 crore.

However, Modi during his France visit past year announced buying 36 of them in fly-away condition by scrapping that tender and invoking “Critical Operational Necessity” of the IAF.

The two countries reiterated their call to Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of Pathankot attack as also the perpetrators of the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which resulted in the demise of two French citizens, and to ensure that such attacks do not recur. Russian Federation may be India’s oldest and biggest military supplier, the U.S. India’s newest close defence partner, and China India’s biggest trading partner, but it is France that was India’s first strategic partner. The two sides have been wrangling over the price of power from these units for more than a year.

“From nuclear cooperation to railway locomotives, we are sowing the seeds of an ever-tightening web of cooperation between our two countries, ” Modi said.

The parade, which also features colourful floats showcasing the culture of the country’s states, is the highlight of annual celebrations of the birth of modern India.

“India needs them and France has shown that it has the world’s best aircraft”.

Manufacturer Dassault Aviation hailed the accord Monday, saying in a statement it “actively supports the French authorities in finalising a full accord within four weeks”.

The French leader arrived Sunday in the northern city of Chandigarh, where Modi joined him and lauded France’s decision to invest $1 billion every year in India in various sectors.

“The day Paris was hit by terror, I decided that our Republic Day parade guest must be France as our people are united against the enemies of humanity”, Modi said after receiving Hollande in Chandigarh, Punjab’s state capital.