India, France put on hold announcements on Rafale Marine jets, submarines; negotiations to continue

India has not only put on hold the purchase of 26 Rafale Marine combat aircraft for its navy, but also the announcement of another much-expected defence deal with France – a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of three submarines in India with the transfer of technology from France.

A version of the joint statement posted online after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday did refer to an MoU between Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited of India and the Naval Group of France for the construction of three additional submarines. But it was later replaced with a newer version, which had no reference to the MoU, but did acknowledge the success of bilateral cooperation in building six Kalvari-class – an export derivative of the Scorpène-class of France – diesel-electric submarines for the Indian Navy under New Delhi’s acquisition programme ‘Project 75’. It also noted that India and France were ready to explore more ambitious projects to develop the Indian Navy’s submarine fleet and its performance.

Read | No Rafale-M for Indian Navy now, but several big-ticket defence deals announced after Modi-Macron meet

The newer version of the joint statement was later confirmed as the one that was approved by both sides. The signing of the MoU for the submarines had earlier been widely reported by media outlets, including DH, as it was mentioned in the outcome document’s earlier version, which was mistakenly put online, but later replaced with the newer and the mutually agreed version.

The proposed deals for the Rafale M aircraft and the new Project 75 submarines were expected to be among the major outcomes of the meeting between the Prime Minister and the French President on Friday. But the two sides apparently could not iron out the details and finally agreed to strike out both the deals from the otherwise long list of outcomes, including several intended to expand cooperation in the defence sectors.

“The metrics of defence partnership (between India and France) are not defined by a single acquisition or a non-acquisition, single procurement or a single transaction,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said during a media briefing in Paris on Friday. He was replying to queries by the journalists about the absence of reference to the Rafale M deal in the joint statement or the list of outcomes released after the meeting of the two leaders.

A source in New Delhi told DH on Saturday that the two sides would continue negotiations and both the deals would be clinched as soon as possible.

The Modi-Macron meeting saw the two sides agreeing on the joint development of a combat aircraft engine. The text of the newer version of the joint statement, unlike the one initially posted, however, does not include a commitment by the Safran Group of France and the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India to work out a roadmap for the project by the end of the year.

Even as the specific deal for the three submarines could not be concluded, the CEO of the Naval Group, Pierre Eric Pommellet, thanked Indian and French authorities on Saturday for the announcement about the extension of the partnership for exploring “more ambitious projects” to develop the Indian Navy’s submarine fleet and its performance.

Though the Rafale M deal was not announced, Dassault Aviation too issued a press release, quoting its chairman and CEO, Eric Trappier, thanking the Government of India (GoI) for selecting the maritime combat aircraft manufactured by his company for the Indian Navy. He was apparently referring to the grant of Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) by the Defence Acquisition Council of the GoI on Thursday for the procurement of the 26 Rafale Marine aircraft for the Indian Navy from the French Government based on an inter-governmental agreement, along with associated ancillary equipment, weapons, simulator, spares, documentation, crew training and logistic support.

The DAC had on Thursday also granted the AoN for procurement of the three additional Scorpène-class submarines to be constructed by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.

A day before Modi and Macron met in Paris, the government had stated that the approvals had been granted at the DAC meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. It had also stated that the price and other terms of purchase for the Rafale M aircraft would be negotiated with the French Government after taking into account all relevant aspects, including comparative procurement price of similar aircraft by other countries. The DAC had also decided that the contract documents that would be finalised after negotiations would have provisions for the integration of equipment designed in India as well as for the establishment of a Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) hub in India.

New Delhi had earlier purchased 36 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force under an India-France intergovernmental agreement inked in September 2016.