India to Buy French Rafale Jet Fighters, Submarines

India is planning to buy jet fighters and submarines from France, according to officials, in the latest sign of New Delhi gravitating further toward the West after the Ukraine war and sanctions on Moscow cut off the flow of Russian-made weapons.

A top Indian government panel headed by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday approved the purchase of 26 Rafale jet fighters from France in a deal valued at around 520 billion rupees, equivalent to $6.3 billion. The panel also approved the purchase of three Franco-Spanish Scorpene-class submarines for around 270 billion rupees, an Indian official said.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to announce the deals during a two-day visit in Paris that begins Thursday evening, according to French and Indian officials.

India is expanding its naval fleet as relations with neighboring China have grown increasingly fraught in recent years. The addition of French jet fighters and submarines also shows how New Delhi has begun to strengthen ties with the West. New Delhi has shrugged off its decadeslong wariness of the U.S., which stemmed in part from Washington’s support of its rival Pakistan. India is now more deeply embracing the Quad, a grouping with Japan, Australia and the U.S., that cooperates on security and a range of other issues.

It is the first time that France is exporting the marine version of the Rafale jet, French officials said. They are intended for India’s first domestically made aircraft carrier—INS Vikrant—commissioned last August. India bought three dozen Rafale jets for its air force in 2016. The country has two squadrons for these jets, which frequently carry out sorties along the country’s tense borders with China and Pakistan.

France and India are now expected to begin detailed negotiations, including the final price, ancillary equipment, weapons and spares for the jets. The deal for the submarine includes substantial transfer of technology for its construction in India.

India previously purchased its military equipment mainly from Russia but has sought in recent years to diversify. Moscow’s war on Ukraine is further eroding Russia’s share of the global arms trade, analysts say, as growing Western sanctions, Russia’s need to conserve arms output for itself and a reputational hit on the battlefield reduce its exports.

Tensions with China, meanwhile, soared in 2020 following the intense clash between the security forces of the two countries along the disputed Himalayan borders in eastern Ladakh.

The incident resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese, prompting the militaries of the two countries to deploy more than 50,000 soldiers equipped with the latest weaponry and artillery along the border.

In retaliation, India moved to ban TikTok, the popular Chinese video-streaming platform, and put in place a mechanism to strictly scrutinize any investment proposal from China. It also barred Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE from being part of India’s massive 5G rollout program.

Indian officials have blamed China for violating border agreements, and the two countries have held 18 rounds of military talks since 2020 aimed at preventing the dispute from spiraling into wider conflict. It has been three years since, and the deployment remains high and the situation fragile.

France had been competing with the U.S. to sell jet fighters to India. An Indian official said the marine version of Dassault Aviation’s

During Modi’s first state visit to the U.S. in June, a deal was announced to manufacture jet-fighter engines in India to power advanced light combat aircraft. Both sides also acknowledged India’s plan to purchase high-altitude armed drones from the U.S. in a transaction valued at roughly $3 billion.

India and the U.S. have signed several foundational military agreements in recent years for greater interoperability of security forces and sharing of intelligence inputs, among others.

The U.S. has been collaborating more closely with India in other ways. Last year, Indian and American troops participated in a high-altitude military exercise about 60 miles from the India-China border in northern Uttarakhand state. The countries have increased maritime cooperation as China heightens its presence in the Indian Ocean through submarine deployments and port investments.

Modi is set to have dinner with Macron on Thursday. He will attend Bastille Day celebrations on Friday in Paris, where around 240 Indian troops will take part in the military parade, French officials said.

Write to Rajesh Roy at [email protected] and Noemie Bisserbe at [email protected]