Military Cooperation: IAF Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari holds talks with his French counterpart

 

New Delhi: Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari held wide-ranging talks with his French counterpart Gen Stephane Mille in New Delhi on Monday, focusing on ways to boost bilateral military cooperation against the backdrop of various geopolitical developments. The top-ranking French military official is on a visit to India.

‘General Stephane Miller, Chief of Staff of the French Air & Space Force, called on Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari, #CAS at Air HQ, New Delhi today. The two chiefs discussed ways & means to enhance bilateral ties & strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest’, the Indian Air Force tweeted. As per reports, the overall situation in the Indo-Pacific as well as the Indian Ocean Region figured in the talks between Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari and Gen Mille.

The visit by Gen Mille came amid an 18-day military exercise between the Indian and French air forces in Jodhpur. The ‘Garuda VII’ exercise, involving a significant number of combat jets such as Rafale, Tejas, Jaguar and Sukhoi-30s, began on October 26 and will culminate on November 12. The French military official also met Indian Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande. ‘General Manoj Pande #COAS interacted with General Stephane Mille, Chief of Staff, French Air and Space Force & discussed aspects of #DefenceCooperation between both the defence forces’, the Army tweeted.

The military cooperation between India and France has witnessed a major expansion in the last few years. In August, a French Air and Space Force contingent, including three Rafale jets, made a strategically crucial stopover at the IAF’s Sulur base in Tamil Nadu as part of a mega military operation it carried out in the Pacific Ocean. In March, the Indian and French navies carried out a five-day mega wargame in the Arabian Sea, involving frontline ships, submarines, maritime patrol aircraft, fighter aircraft and helicopters. The Indian and French navies in April last year too carried out a mega wargame in the Arabian Sea. The French Navy deployed its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, and its entire carrier strike group in that exercise, reflecting growing congruence in naval ties.