Though Prime minister Modi is primarily in Paris as the co-host of the AI Summit, the understated thrust of his visit  is to further deepen  the strategic partnership between the two countries.  India is important to France principally because it is one its biggest arms buyers. Earlier Russia was the principal supplier of arms to New Delhi. But, a variety of factors, including the Russia-Ukraine war, Western sanctions and the increasing proximity between Moscow and Beijing has forced New Delhi to rethink about Russia as a main supplier of arms. 

According to a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute study India's defence imports from Russia has dropped to 36 percent in 2019-23. France has been the main beneficiary of India's move to reduce its dependence on Russia for defence imports. As much as 33 per cent of India's defence imports are now from France. No wonder President Macron refers to Modi as "my friend."

Said Coumar Ananda, president of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry France-India, trade between India and France has risen from USD 15 billion to USD 20 billion. He said succintly "this was the India moment in France."With a firm eye on the huge defence purchases of India, President Macron has been systemically cultivating Modi.

The purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft  in fly away condition and  the construction of six Scorpeone submarines in collaboration with the Naval Group of France laid the foundation for a massive defence collaboration. These  deals apart,  India is also expected to  procure 26 naval variant of Rafale jets and three Scorpeone submarines. 

French aerospace major  Safran and DRDO  are already collaborating on the manufacture engines for India's fifth generation  fighter jet.But what is most significant is the visit of Modi to Cadarache in south of France to visit the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) which Vikram Misri, India's foreign secretary, described as "a high science project" in which India is a partner. ITER is an under construction fusion reactor which seeks to demonstrate nuclear fusion as the future source of energy.

According to a report, ITER works ``on the tokamak concept where the reaction of hydrogen isotopes Deuterium and Tritium produces energy by the mass-energy conversion principle thereby proving to be a source of unlimited energy." 

The Cadarache facility is the largest energy research centre in Europe hosting 19 basic nuclear installations (BNIs) and a secret BNI. It is expected to create its first plasma this year. The other nuclear installations at Cadarache include the Tore Supra Tokamak and the Jules Horowitz reactor. President Macron can justly take credit for taking Indo-French relations to a new high. The massive purchases made by India is providing a big boost to France's defence industry and in turn is providing jobs to thousands of skilled employees.