French President Emmanuel Macron will preside over India’s Republic Day celebrations next month to cap the 25th anniversary of strategic military ties worth billions of euros for France's arms industry.

Delhi's invitation to the French president came after US leader Joe Biden declined an offer to be the guest of honour at the 26 January parade.

Macron will become the sixth French leader to attend the annual military extravaganza since 1976.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is returning the honour after Macron invited him to attend France’s traditional military parade on Bastille Day on 14 July.

“As strategic partners, India and France share a high degree of convergence on a range of regional and global issues,” India’s External Affairs Ministry said.

It will be the second meeting between Macron and Modi since September, when the two leaders promised to take India-France relations to new heights during talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Delhi.

While France and India have had diplomatic ties since 1948, their defence cooperation grew closer with the agreement of an “Indo-French Strategic Partnership” in January 1998.

“This Strategic Partnership, first for France outside the EU, has been instrumental in the comprehensive growth of India-France relationship,” officials told the Indian Express newspaper.

Arms Deals

France is India’s closest strategic partner in Europe and its second-largest arms supplier after Russia, having edged past the US last year.

France now supplies 29 percent of India’s military hardware imports, and is hoping for more.

Macron announced his two-day trip after French aircraft maker Dassault responded to Delhi’s tender to supply the Indian navy with 26 Rafale fighter jets, worth €5.4 billion.

The marine jets add to 36 Rafales already purchased by India for €8 billion in 2016 to shore up its ground forces against China.

France will also build three Scorpene submarines worth €3.2 billion, in addition to six already constructed in a Mumbai shipyard.

The impact of Russia’s lingering war in Ukraine on its arms export industry is also likely to put the French in the lead in a race to sell India over 100 war jets worth €22 billion.

Nuclear Roadblock

Outside military equipment, bilateral trade between France and India topped €12 billion in the past financial year.

France has emerged the 11th largest foreign investor in India, with an inflow of €9.5 billion between 2000 and 2023.

The 25-year-old strategic partnership between France and India also calls for cooperation in the fields of space and nuclear power.

The pair have robust space collaborations underway, but plans to set up the world’s largest atomic power project has hit a wall ever since Delhi sought guarantees in line with a law that stipulates full compensation in case of a mishap.

If completed, the Jaitapur nuclear power plant on India's west coast would generate 9,900 megawatts of power and light up 70 million homes. But the project has stalled since French and Indian state nuclear companies first agreed on it in 2009.

The Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act, passed the following year, raised concerns that the French side could find itself on the hook for hundreds of millions of euros in the event of an accident.

The contentious law has also blocked efforts by the United States and Japan to set up atomic power plants in energy-deficient India, which has promised to triple its nuclear capacity by 2032.

Russia is so far the only country that has constructed an Indian nuclear plant, which predates the liability law.