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French President Emmanuel Macron's February 2026 India visit marked a major elevation of India–France ties into a “Special Global Strategic Partnership”, centred on defence cooperation, aerospace manufacturing, technology collaboration, economic agreements, and a shared geopolitical vision amid a rapidly shifting global order.
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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:
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.
