New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will depart for a four-day go to to Italy and France beginning Monday in a bid to develop bilateral engagement in strategic affairs and discover avenues of cooperation for the joint improvement of navy {hardware}, information company PTI reported.
As a part of his two-day go to, the Defence Minister will journey to the Italian capital, Rome, the place he’ll maintain discussions along with his Italian counterpart Guido Crisetto, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) knowledgeable by means of a press release.
The connection between the 2 international locations was elevated to the extent of strategic partnership in March throughout Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s go to to India.
“Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will go to Italy and France from October 9 to 12, ” the Defence Ministry stated.
On the second leg of his go to, the Defence Minister will attend the fifth annual India-France defence dialogue along with his French counterpart Sebastian Lecornu.
“India and France not too long ago celebrated 25 years of strategic partnership. Each international locations take pleasure in a deep and wide-ranging bilateral defence relationship, together with important industrial cooperation,” the defence ministry stated in a press release.
“In each Rome and Paris, the defence minister may also work together with the defence business CEOs and senior representatives to debate potential alternatives for industrial cooperation,” the assertion added.
Additional, in accordance with officers, the potential for joint improvement of navy platforms shall be central to Singh’s discussions in Rome and Paris.
In the meantime, the chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, is about to go to the nationwide capital later this week to debate numerous facets of India’s buy of 26 naval variants of the Rafale fighter jet, PTI reported, citing individuals conscious of the matter.
In line with the PTI report, Trappier will arrive in Delhi on Monday on a two-day journey and can maintain preliminary discussions on the proposed buy of the naval variant of the fighters.
In July, India and France introduced a number of ground-breaking defence cooperation tasks, together with the joint improvement of jet and helicopter engines and building of three Scorpene submarines for the Indian Navy, PTI reported.