This article covers the sectoral cooperation between India and France described in the MEA brief of July 2026: defence, space, civil nuclear energy, counter-terrorism and cyber security, environment and the blue economy, health, and development cooperation in third countries.

Defence

According to the MEA brief of July 2026, defence cooperation is reviewed under the Annual Defence Dialogue at Defence Minister level and by the High Committee on Defence Cooperation at Secretary level. The brief notes an increasing Atmanirbharata element in the defence partnership.

The sixth Annual Defence Dialogue, co-chaired by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Ms Catherine Vautrin, Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs of France, was held on 17 February 2026 in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The two countries renewed the ten-year defence cooperation agreement and announced reciprocal deployment of officers at Indian Army and French Land Forces establishments.

Platforms and defence industry

  • P-75 Scorpene Project: the sixth and last submarine was commissioned in the Indian Navy in January 2025.
  • Rafale: France completed delivery of 36 Rafale aircraft to India in 2022.
  • Rafale-M: on 28 April 2025 the two governments signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement for 26 Rafale-M aircraft for the Indian Navy. It includes transfer of technology for integration of indigenous weapons, a production facility for Rafale fuselage, and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities for aircraft engine, sensors and weapons in India.

In November 2025, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated by videoconference the Safran Aircraft Engine Services India (SAESI) facility at the GMR Aerospace and Industrial Park near Hyderabad airport. The brief describes it as India's first deep-level aircraft engine MRO centre established by a global original equipment manufacturer. It is designed to service up to 300 LEAP engines a year and is expected to employ more than 1,000 technicians and engineers by 2035.

Safran also announced an MRO shop for the M88 engine that powers the Rafale, in Hyderabad, and signed a joint venture and cooperation agreement with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to manufacture its Hammer modular air-to-surface weapon. On 17 February 2026, Prime Minister Modi and President Macron virtually inaugurated the H125 helicopter final assembly line at Vemagal, Karnataka.

Exercises, visits and maritime dialogue

Exercises recorded in the brief include army exercise SHAKTI 2025, held in France on 18 June-1 July 2025; the eighth edition of the biennial Ex-GARUDA between FASF and IAF at Mont-de-Marsan airbase on 12-29 November 2025; and naval exercise VARUNA in March 2025. French Maritime Patrol Aircraft Atlantique 2 took part in Milan 2026, the Indian Navy's multilateral exercise held in and around Visakhapatnam on 15-25 February 2026.

Service chiefs have exchanged visits. General Pierre Schill, French Chief of Staff, visited India in February 2024 and October 2025. General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, visited France in April 2024, followed by General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of Army Staff, in February 2025. Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh visited France in the first week of June 2026.

The India-France Maritime Cooperation Dialogue last met in Paris on 20 May 2026, and the India-France Military Sub Committee Meeting was held in New Delhi on 12-13 May 2026. INS Sudarshini took part in the Escale à Sete event from 31 March to 06 April 2026, a port call that commemorated 400 years of the French Navy.

A Letter of Intent on deepening the defence space partnership was signed on 26 January 2024. India took part as a military observer in the AsterX-23 and AsterX-24 exercises in France, and as a participant in the exercise held in March 2025.

Space

The brief records more than fifty years of space cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French space agency, Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES). Joint programmes cover Earth observation, space geodesy, human spaceflight, next-generation launch vehicle technologies and planetary exploration.

ISRO and CNES have concluded a joint declaration on future launch vehicle technologies, and an agreement on the joint earth observation mission TRISHNA, maritime domain awareness and space situational awareness. ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has launched French satellites on a commercial basis, while Arianespace has been a major provider of launch services to Indian geostationary satellites. In 2024, Arianespace and NSIL signed an MOU on jointly addressing global satellite launch demand using NSIL's LVM-3 and Arianespace's Ariane-6 vehicles.

The first India-France Strategic Space Dialogue was held in Paris on 26 June 2023 and the second in New Delhi on 4 March 2024. During President Macron's visit in February 2026, both sides reaffirmed their cooperation in civil satellite development and human flight programmes. An MoU between two private firms on maritime satellite ground infrastructure and surveillance, three contracts for a French supplier to provide electric propulsion to three Indian companies, and a private contract to deploy optical stations for Space Situational Awareness were signed. A Letter of Intent between CNES and ISRO on microgravity research and human space exploration was signed during the Bharat Innovates event in Nice in June 2026.

Civil nuclear energy

The brief refers to cooperation on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including in relation to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant Project. The India-France Special Task Force on Nuclear Energy met twice in 2025. Both sides have agreed to work on a partnership on Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMR).

During Prime Minister Modi's visit in February 2025, the two sides signed a letter of intent on SMRs and AMRs, and an Implementing Agreement between India's GCNEP, DAE, and France's INSTN, CEA, on training and education of nuclear professionals. Over ten Indian companies and more than 20 industry delegates took part in the 6th edition of the World Nuclear Exhibition in Paris in November 2025.

Counter-terrorism, internal security and cyber

The 17th Meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counterterrorism was held in September 2025 in Paris. A delegation headed by the Director General of the National Security Guard (NSG) attended MILIPOL Paris in November 2025, where a Letter of Intent on counter-terrorism cooperation between NSG and the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) of France was signed.

Mr. François-Noël Buffet, French Minister of State of Interior, visited India on 23 April 2025 to jointly inaugurate the second edition of MILIPOL India with Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai. India participated in the fifth No Money for Terror conference, hosted by France in Paris on 19 May 2026. The two countries also have a cyber dialogue mechanism; a dialogue on cyber security matters was held in Paris on 9 Jan 2024.

Environment, energy and the blue economy

India and France launched the International Solar Alliance (ISA) during COP21 in Paris in 2015, and France is the current co-chair of ISA (2024-26). France joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in July 2020 and held the rotating co-chair position alongside India for the April 2024-March 2026 biennium. The 7th International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure was held in Nice on 7 June 2025, the first time it was held outside India, and was co-chaired by Dr P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

On 21 April 2026, Mr Jean-Paul Seytre of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs co-chaired the 7th Governing Council of the CDRI in New Delhi with Dr P.K. Mishra. The Joint Working Group on Environment held its fourth meeting in July 2024. A 2021 MoU between the renewable energy ministries was renewed for five years in February 2026, and a Road-map on Green Hydrogen was adopted in October 2022.

An India-France Roadmap on Blue Economy and Ocean Governance was agreed in February 2022, with an annual bilateral dialogue. Its first meeting was held in Paris on 12 October 2023.

Health

A Declaration of Intent on cooperation in health and medicine was signed on 23 January 2024, and the first Joint Working Group meeting on healthcare was held on 28-29 January 2025 in Paris. In February 2026, the Indo-French institute for AI in global health was inaugurated at AIIMS, Delhi. It is jointly led by Sorbonne University, AIIMS and the Paris Brain Institute.

As of the brief, the Franco-Indian Campus for Life Sciences and Health, initiated by the French Government in 2022, brings together 20 French and Indian higher education and research institutions and more than 80 research laboratories. On 19 February 2026, the French Health Data Hub and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) launched a collaboration to pilot India's Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) framework for health-data sharing. In February 2026, the Department of Biotechnology and the French Institute ANRS MIE signed an LoI on joint research on infectious and vector borne diseases.

Development cooperation in third countries

In furtherance of the India-France Roadmap on Indo-Pacific of 2023, the two sides signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Triangular Development Cooperation in February 2025. It aims to identify and implement sustainable development goals and climate-focused projects in priority sectors, including digital innovation, digital public infrastructure, clean energy, green technologies, preservation of biodiversity, women empowerment, education, health, nutrition, water and sanitation.