India's approach in the defence sector is to increasingly advance the 'Make in India' initiative with a focus on co-development, co-design, co-production and co-manufacturing, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday, referring to ongoing discussions on Rafale aircraft with France, underscoring New Delhi's emphasis on enhancing indigenous capabilities.
Foreign Secretary Briefs on Modi's France Visit
Addressing a special briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first leg of his visit to France, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that India's approach to defence cooperation, including discussions surrounding the Rafale fighter aircraft, is guided by the objective of maximising local production and manufacturing.
"The Indian Air Force operates the Rafale, and consequently, dialogue has progressed between the governments and air forces of both nations. Regarding the indigenisation of the Rafale, it has always been our stance and the Prime Minister has emphasised this in all his meetings, that India's perspective in the defence sector is to increasingly advance the 'Make in India' initiative," said Misri.
"We aim to move towards co-developing, co-designing, co-producing, and co-manufacturing. Therefore, maximising production, design, and manufacturing within India is desirable and remains our preference," he added.
Broad Defence Cooperation Discussed
The Foreign Secretary noted that discussions during the Prime Minister's visit extended beyond the Rafale platform and covered a broad spectrum of defence cooperation between the two countries.
"While today's discussions covered various topics beyond the Rafale, the underlying theme was that for any defence platform under consideration, we must proceed with the fundamental objective of maximising local content and local manufacturing; our cooperation should be structured with this in mind," Misri said.
His remarks came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded the first leg of his visit to France in Nice, during which he held bilateral and delegation-level talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and jointly inaugurated the Bharat Innovates 2026 conclave.
India Issues Letter of Request for 114 Rafale Jets
Earlier this month, India issued a Letter of Request (LoR) to France for the mega government-to-government deal worth around Rs 3.25 lakh crore to buy 114 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force. Top Defence Ministry sources told ANI that the Letter of Request was issued last month by the Acquisition Wing of the Defence Ministry to the French government officials for the deal.
The deal would see 94 Rafale jets being manufactured in India by the French manufacturer Dassault Aviation in partnership with an Indian company. The French side is expected to reply to the Indian Letter of Request or tender in the next two to three months, and the two sides are likely to conclude the negotiations and the deal within the next year, sources said.
Addressing Fighter Aircraft Shortage
India is facing a critical shortage of fighter aircraft squadrons in its inventory and has been making efforts to deal with the shortfall by inducting the advanced 4.5-generation-plus Rafale aircraft in large numbers. While the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy have placed orders for 62 Rafale planes already, the 114 Rafale order will take the numbers to 176.
The Indian Navy has also already expressed its intent to induct 31 more of these planes to tackle maritime threats, and that may take the number of Rafales in the country to over 200.
First Time Rafale Manufactured Outside France
As part of the deal, this would be the first time ever that the Rafale aircraft will be manufactured outside France, with around 50 per cent localisation. "First time 'Make in India,' Rafale outside France backed up by a government-to-government agreement, no intermediaries, full transparency in the project itself, G2G significant levels of localisation, and full authority to integrate Indian weapons and Indian systems are the highlights of this programme. It also enables us to induct fighter aircraft relatively quickly because the first of the Rafale Marines will start coming in '28, and after that, over a period of time, you will see that about three-and-a-half years from now, the first of these Air Force Rafales will also start coming," the Defence Secretary had told ANI after the clearance of the proposal by the DAC in February this year.
