Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday addressed a joint press briefing in Mumbai.
PM Modi described India-France ties as “special" and a force for global stability amid global uncertainty after he held bilateral talks with President Macron in Mumbai's Lok Bhavan.
PM Modi said India and France share a very special relationship. "France is one of India’s oldest strategic partners. And together with President Macron, we have given this strategic partnership unprecedented depth and energy," he said. "On the basis of this same trust and shared vision, today we are establishing our relationship as a Special Global Strategic Partnership," he added.
“The world is facing a period of uncertainty. In this environment, the India-France partnership is a force for global stability," he said.
PM Modi said India and France will manufacture in India the world's only helicopter capable of flying to the heights of Mount Everest and export it to the entire world.
He also announced the setting up of an assembly line in India for H125 single-engine light utility helicopters of French origin.
PM Modi also announced the launch of several joint initiatives, including the Indo-French Centre for AI in Health, the Indo-French Centre for Digital Science and Technology, and the National Centre of Alliance for Skilling in Aeronautics.
PM Modi said the partnership “brings together France’s technological expertise and India’s scale."
President Macron in his address described the India–France relationship as unique and based on trust, openness and ambition.
“We have decided today to elevate this partnership and give it a new status. We have complete faith in this relationship," Macron said, noting that the two countries have worked closely over the past eight years in areas including the Indo-Pacific, artificial intelligence and clean energy.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi and French President Macron virtually inaugurated the assembly line for the production of Airbus H125 helicopters at Vemagal in Karnataka.
