India and France sealed an ambitious industrial roadmap to co-develop critical military hardware, firmed up a space situational awareness programme while Airbus SE and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd agreed to jointly build H125 helicopters following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra, announcing the outcomes of Thursday's Modi-Macron talks in Jaipur, also said a scheme for exchange of professionals in the age bracket of 18 to 35 years and activation of Schengen visas with a five-year validity for Indian post-graduate alumni were among other key decisions.
At a media briefing on Friday, Kwatra said both sides deliberated on various aspects to advance civil-nuclear energy cooperation and that there was a "very positive, forward leaning" ongoing conversation on small modular reactors.
Modi and Macron also delved into the situation in the Red Sea and the "potential disruptions" that it can trigger, besides exchanging views on the conflict in Gaza, he said.
There was no announcement on India's proposed procurement of 26 naval variants of Rafale jets and three Scorpene submarines from France as it is understood that price negotiations for the multi-billion dollar deals are still underway. -- PTI