NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to France on Thursday to deepen ties with New Delhi’s oldest strategic partner in the West, with a slew of high-profile defence deals expected and a new joint plan to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific.

Modi has been invited as the guest of honour at the Bastille Day celebrations by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Units from India’s army, navy and air force will also participate in the parade, including two of the 36 Rafale fighter jets India bought in 2015 for nearly $9 billion.

The visit will “provide an opportunity to chart the course of the partnership for the future across diverse sectors such as strategic, cultural, scientific, academic and economic cooperation,” the Indian government said in a statement on Wednesday.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the strategic partnership between the two countries, and the announcement of the new military deals will burnish the deepening defence ties between the two nations.

France has been one of India’s closest partners in Europe for decades. Paris was the only Western capital to not impose sanctions on New Delhi after India conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

Ten years later, when India got a Nuclear Suppliers Group waiver for its civil nuclear plans, France was the first country to sign an agreement.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2023