Rajnath Singh To Depart For 4-Day France, Italy Visit Today, Defence Cooperation On Agenda

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will depart for a four-day visit to Italy and France starting Monday in a bid to expand bilateral engagement in strategic affairs and explore avenues of cooperation for the joint development of military hardware, news agency PTI reported.

As part of his two-day visit, the Defence Minister will travel to the Italian capital, Rome, where he will hold discussions with his Italian counterpart Guido Crisetto, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) informed through a statement.

The relationship between the two countries was elevated to the level of strategic partnership in March during Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s visit to India.

“Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Italy and France from October 9 to 12, ” the Defence Ministry said.

On the second leg of his visit, the Defence Minister will attend the fifth annual India-France defence dialogue with his French counterpart Sebastian Lecornu.

“India and France recently celebrated 25 years of strategic partnership. Both countries enjoy a deep and wide-ranging bilateral defence relationship, including significant industrial cooperation,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

“In both Rome and Paris, the defence minister will also interact with the defence industry CEOs and senior representatives to discuss potential opportunities for industrial cooperation,” the statement added.

Further, according to officials, the potential for joint development of military platforms will be central to Singh’s discussions in Rome and Paris.

Meanwhile, the chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, is set to visit the national capital later this week to discuss various aspects of India’s purchase of 26 naval variants of the Rafale fighter jet, PTI reported, citing people aware of the matter.

According to the PTI report, Trappier will arrive in Delhi on Monday on a two-day trip and will hold preliminary discussions on the proposed purchase of the naval variant of the fighters.

In July, India and France announced several ground-breaking defence cooperation projects, including the joint development of jet and helicopter engines and construction of three Scorpene submarines for the Indian Navy, PTI reported.