French President Emmanuel Macron is in India for a three-day visit aimed at shoring up defense and AI ties with the South Asian country.
Macron is scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later Tuesday, in Mumbai, where the leaders are set to discuss expanding military partnership between the two countries.
Macron is then set to attend the global AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi in the next days.
“Through this visit, we seek to further strengthen cooperation” with India, and to “diversify” France’s economic and trade partnerships, Macron’s office said.
Macron visit amid talks on Rafale megadeal
An Indian government panel last week gave its preliminary approval for the purchase of additional Rafale fighter jets and maritime patrol aircraft in deals valued at billions of dollars, India’s defense ministry said.
The purchases are worth $40 billion.
India’s Ministry of Defence has not yet publically shared the number of jets it intends to order, or their price point. However, ministry sources told AFP that the order will be for 114 jets.
Another ministry source said that “the majority” of them would be manufactured in India under the proposed contract.
Christophe Jaffrelot, an India specialist at Sciences Po Center for International Studies in Paris, described the potential deal as the “contract of the century” and a potential “crowning achievement” for bilateral ties.
Maintaining air power is a strategic priority for India, which faces persistent security challenges along its borders with nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and China.
Over the last decade, New Delhi has sought to reduce its military dependence on Russia, which is still India’s largest defense supplier, and is now looking to boost defense production at home.
This story will be updated.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar