French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will on Tuesday call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
Fabius had on Monday said he would be extending an invite from President Francois Hollande to the Indian PM to visit France.
The Prime Minister’s official visit to France could be in September, when Modi visits New York for the UN General Assembly, Fabius said.
As soon as Fabius arrived in India on Monday, he had voiced confidence that the USD 20 billion deal for the purchase of 126 Rafale combat jets would be inked soon.
Fabius, who held talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj and later Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday, said he was “very confident” of the Rafale deal being sealed.
He said the status of negotiations on the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal to acquire 126 of the French fighter jets “were very positive” and he was “very confident of the final outcome”.
The French minister said France shares the “notion of efficiency” of the new Narendra Modi government, which he said would help both sides in rapidly implementing the decisions taken.
“(The) notion of efficiency by the new government is completely shared by us,” he said at a press conference after talks with Sushma Swaraj.
Fabius, the first European minister to reach out to the new Indian government, said France was also keen on a larger defence partnership with India, encompassing the areas of missiles, submarines and helicopters.
Fabius said France has “high ambition of the partnership” from the new Indian government.
—IANS