Flashpoints | Security | South Asia

Weaning India Away From Russia? Take a Leaf from the French Playbook

If weaning India away from Russia is a European dream, it is perhaps being led by France.

On February 17, even as he lauded the step forward in Indo-French relations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ironically appeared to borrow from the Sino-Pakistani platitudes used for decades to describe their all-weather friendship. 

“The India- France partnership knows no boundaries. It can reach from the deepest oceans to the tallest mountains,” he said, in a joint press statement with French President Emmanuel Macron. The present uncertain geopolitics, driven primarily by India’s complex neighborhood, growing Chinese clout, and quixotic policies of American President Donald Trump, is boosting the defense and strategic relationship between New Delhi and Paris. 

During what was Macron’s fourth official visit to India, February 17-19, the two countries exchanged 21 agreements and documents related to the fields of artificial intelligence, defense cooperation, energy, and critical technology, giving shape to an elevated “special global strategic partnership.” Although yet to be officially confirmed as well as finalized through technical and commercial negotiations, the negotiations appear already to be producing movement. 

India is going ahead with its planned purchase of 114 Rafale jets, valued at around $40 billion, for its air force. The unconfirmed loss of one or more Rafale jets during the brief war with Pakistan in May 2025 hasn’t deterred India from placing its trust in the aircraft, built by the French company Dassault Aviation. The Rafale has been integrated into the fighting units of several countries, but none in South Asia – though it may be noted that on February 23, Colombia, in a dramatic reversal, announced that it would bypass a Rafale deal that at one point seemed all but certain in favor of Saab and its JAS 39 Gripen fighter. In any case, the Indian agreement is more than ten times larger than the deal that was under discussion with Colombia. 

The key to New Delhi’s demand is the joint production of at least 90 jets in India itself. Production of Rafales at the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) facility in Nagpur, in India’s Maharashtra state, is set to become the cornerstone of India’s Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) program, a key requirement to bolster its depleted fighter strength and to counter the growing air capabilities of China and Pakistan. MRFA is a critical requirement for the Indian Air Force (IAF), which has been delayed continually for the last two decades. In fact, as far back as the early 1980s, when the Soviet Union agreed to make India the first recipient of the MiG-29 outside the USSR and the Warsaw Pact, New Delhi has struggled unsuccessfully to negotiate the intricacies of high-performance aircraft design and production. The deal with Dassault is also in alignment with India’s self-reliance goals (Atmanirbharta) and enhances local industry participation in defense production. DRAL, set up in 2017, is a joint venture between the Indian Reliance Aerostructure Limited and France’s Dassault. 

Hard negotiations are yet to begin on technology transfer. While the French have agreed to the joint production, reports have indicated that they are still unwilling to transfer the critical source codes for the SPECTRA electronic warfare suite and other core electronic systems. Similar tough negotiations also characterized Indian desires to upgrade the MiG-29 through the development of its own aerospace industry. In the case at hand, French restrictions will deny........

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