India and France just wrapped up their 22nd Air Staff Talks in New Delhi, bringing together top officials from the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the French Air and Space Force (FASF). The four-day event, held from September 29 to October 1, 2025, zeroed in on boosting defence cooperation between the two nations.
Air Vice Marshal SK Taliyan from the IAF and Brigadier General Nicolas Chambaz from the FASF co-chaired the talks. They dove into practical topics like joint training programs, combined military exercises, sharing ideas on professional education, and exchanging best practices. The goal? To ramp up operational teamwork and build a stronger long-term strategic partnership in aerospace and defence.
These talks play a key role in helping India and France improve interoperability and swap expertise. It’s all part of their growing defence ties, which now include more focus on India’s self-reliance push, known as Atmanirbhar Bharat. Officials review this partnership regularly through the Annual Defence Dialogue at the minister level and the High Committee on Defence Cooperation at the secretary level, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The defence collaboration isn’t the only area heating up. Just last month in September, the two countries held their second meeting of the India-France Special Task Force on Civil Nuclear Energy, also in New Delhi. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Anne-Marie Descotes, Secretary-General of France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, led the discussions.
They took stock of progress in bilateral civil nuclear cooperation over the past year and looked at ways to deepen ties in areas like innovation, defence, and global challenges such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tensions in West Asia. A big highlight was emerging tech like Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs), building on a Declaration of Intent signed in February 2025.
The MEA’s press statement noted that both sides committed to staying in close touch on key nuclear issues. They also touched on wider bilateral relations, covering technology, space, counter-terrorism, and even trilateral cooperation with other countries.
Overall, these meetings show how India and France are strengthening their alliance across defence, energy, and beyond.
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