Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, French counterpart attend inaugural ceremony of final assembly line of Airbus H-125 helicopters

Vautrin called the India-France defence cooperation as dynamic and ambitious.

In a post on X, she said, "As part of the official visit of the President of the Republic to India, I am in Bangalore alongside Rajnath Singh, the Indian Minister of Defense, to illustrate the strength of our defense cooperation. Deep, dynamic, and ambitious, the French-Indian defense cooperation constitutes a major pillar of our strategic partnership and is strengthening across all sectors, both operational and capability-related."

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Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the final assembly line of H-125 helicopters at Vemagal, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says, "Coming to the unveiling of the final assembly line that we are witnessing today, the H-125 program investment is anticipated to exceed Rs 1000 crore and is likely to create direct and indirect employment opportunities for our skilled and hard working younger generation."

Singh further said that privatization has propelled growth in this sector.

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He said, "Historically, Indian defence production was largely public sector oriented due to various reasons. As a result, the private sector's contribution to total defence production and exports was less than desirable. Our defence exports have increased manifold, putting India among the top defence exporters in the world. This growth trajectory has also given a massive boost to MSMEs and the ancillary sector... A large number of foreign companies currently source many components from Indian MSMEs. We invite companies, to deepen this partnership through meaningful technology transfer and offer advanced solutions to meet the security needs of other countries as well."

Vautrin's visit is with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held delegation-level talks with Macron in Mumbai to further strengthen the India-France strategic partnership.

The talks took place at Maharashtra Lok Bhavan, where the two leaders led their respective delegations in discussions covering a wide range of issues of mutual interest. (ANI)