French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday told IANS that like the successful Tata Airbus deal, the country can count on his country with the mega Rafale deal -- and possibly submarines next – while ‘Make in India’ will be core in this growing relationship.
In an exclusive interaction on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the French President said that on top of this, "what we want to do is to improve the cooperation in maintenance capacities, in terms of diversification of approach and much more".
"Clearly, the collaboration with India is improving, and we are building a new area of cooperation," he stressed.
Macron further said that "We are consistently increasing indigenous components. This is part of the ongoing dialogue between the company and your government".
"I don’t see how anyone can criticise this, because it strengthens your country, deepens our strategic relationship, and creates more jobs here," he emphasised.
Macron also said he has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit France in June. “PM Modi will be the special guest of G7 as BRICS President,” Macron told IANS.
"We have a special global strategic partnership, which is unique, both for India and France. On Rafale, what we want to do is to expand. India confirmed a few days ago its willingness to indeed command a new bunch of Rafale, 114, and to co-produce them," the French President said.
Macron welcomed the recent Indian approval for 114 Rafale fighter jets, noting that the majority of these will be "Made in India."
"So Rafale is absolutely the key. I hope we'll do the same on submarines. We offer additional capacities, and we are doing it as well on the engines and on helicopters, between Tata and Airbus," he informed.
This week, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) inaugurated India’s first private-sector helicopter Final Assembly Line for the Airbus H125 at Vemagal in Karnataka. The H125 helicopter Final Assembly Line facility was inaugurated virtually by PM Modi and Macron.
“We launched new initiatives here in innovation, culture and creative industries, research, and more. So, we share a very strong relationship,” he noted.
