After Rafale Jets, India Quietly Working With France To Acquire Stealth Submarines In A Multi-Billion Dollar Deal
The bilateral ties between India and France have seen a major boost in recent years. Following the landmark Rafale deal, New Delhi is now set to acquire new submarines from the French shipbuilder Naval Group. Representative Image Citing a source, a Nikkei Asia report said that the French shipbuilder will make an offer in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative for a proposal to make P75I class submarines for the Indian Navy. Reportedly, a meeting was held in September between the French Defense Minister Florence Parly and her Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh where the Indo-French defense cooperation was discussed. “One of these is the P75I submarines tender,” said the source cited in the report. According to Harsh V Pant, chief of the Strategic Studies Programme, Observer Research Foundation talking to Nikkei Asia, the deal is expected to be worth a whopping 420 billion rupees ($5.6 billion). The report added that the tender seeks to build six stealth submarines with air-independent ...