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India has agreed to 2 huge defence contracts with France forward of a pomp-filled go to to Paris by prime minister Narendra Modi aimed toward deepening commerce and diplomatic ties to counter a rising China.

India’s defence ministry stated in an announcement on Thursday that it had given preliminary approval for the acquisition of 26 Rafale fighter jets for its navy and three new Scorpène class submarines.

The contracts will deepen the international locations’ longstanding co-operation on defence, which has made France the second-biggest arms provider to India after Russia. India already has 36 Rafale jets made by Dassault Aviation in its air pressure, and 6 Scorpène submarines manufactured by France’s Naval Group.

The ties can even be on show on the Bastille Day parade on Friday when troopers from India’s armed forces will parade down the Champs-Élysées, and Modi seems as French president Emmanuel Macron’s visitor of honour.

Macron has made a specific effort to courtroom Modi, internet hosting him on 4 events since 2017 in an illustration of how India has come to be seen as a prized diplomatic associate.

The pair will focus on Russia’s conflict in Ukraine and the rise of China through the two-day journey, a French official stated, forward of September’s G20 leaders’ summit to be hosted by India in New Delhi.

French senator Christian Cambon stated Modi’s go to marked an “important moment” for the 2 international locations, and underlined how they work collectively on safety within the Indo-Pacific area the place France has abroad territories.

This 12 months marks the twenty fifth anniversary of India and France’s strategic partnership, which has fostered collaboration on defence, vitality, civil aviation and in house, with France serving to India launch satellites. 

The Indian ministry of defence stated it nonetheless wanted to barter with France over the worth for the submarines and the Rafale-Marine jets, that are tailor-made to be used on plane carriers, two of which India has in service. But the contracts will likely be a major increase to the businesses concerned.

India’s earlier Rafale order signed in 2015 was price about €5bn and sought to improve its ageing air pressure fleet. All the jets have been delivered since 2020.

French engine maker Safran can be within the working to increase a enterprise with India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited created in 2022 that makes engines for military helicopters.

Dassault, Safran and Naval Group declined to remark. 

The arms offers with India is not going to solely increase the power of the French defence sector, but additionally reinforce Macron’s push for “strategic autonomy” to scale back Europe’s reliance on outdoors powers such because the US.

Paris can be eager to keep up a presence within the Indo-Pacific through its navy and abroad territories, whereas it desires to courtroom international locations equivalent to India that haven’t joined western sanctions in opposition to Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a area that features two French abroad departments, Paris and New Delhi already conduct joint naval patrols and surveillance flights. 

“The French see themselves as a resident power in the Indian Ocean, with more than 1mn citizens in La Réunion and Mayotte, French soldiers stationed in Djibouti, and the second-largest special economic zone in the world,” stated Christophe Jaffrelot, analysis director at Sciences Po in Paris and the writer of Modi’s India. 

“For India and France, at a time when China is expanding its influence in this part of the world, to join hands makes a lot of sense.”

Isabelle Saint-Mézard, a geopolitics professor at University of Paris 8, stated India was “in some ways benefiting from the rivalry” between the US and China. “Both the US and France have realised that relations with China are going to be tense for a while, and they are seeking to keep India on side to deal with that,” she added.

Although India is non-aligned and emerged as a giant purchaser of Russian oil through the conflict in Ukraine, it has moved nearer to the US in opposition to the backdrop of clashes alongside its northern border with China since 2020, and financial and tech rivalries with Beijing.

While in Washington, Modi presided over the signing of bilateral deals, together with an settlement between General Electric and HAL to make jet engines in India.

For Modi, who was feted at a White House dinner and addressed Congress on a state visit to the US in June, the journey to Paris will likely be his second high-profile one in lower than a month.

“It’s great that India is being courted by all the great powers, and it’s also true that Modi will use it to further his domestic agenda,” stated Raji Rajagopalan, director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology on the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. 

“With the 2024 election coming up, this visit will be used to say how well India is respected in the world.”

For Macron, the go to comes at a fragile time after riots broke out about two weeks in the past, touched off by the deadly taking pictures by police of a 17-year-old. The French president has been preserving a low-profile domestically, and the federal government is apprehensive that unrest may flare up across the July 14 vacation. 

Campaign teams raised the query of whether or not Macron would convey up human rights points with Modi, given issues about New Delhi’s therapy of minority Muslims and Christians, and stress on non-governmental organisations and journalists.

“It is very worrying that France is celebrating the values of liberty and equality with a leader who is heavily criticised for upending democracy in India,” wrote Philippe Bolopion of Human Rights Watch.