17 Agreements signed between India and France during PM Narendra Modi’s visit

i. India and France on 11 April 2015 signed 17 agreements in various fields during Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s visit to France. 

ii. They were signed in presence of Indian PM and his counterpart French President Francois Hollande after they had held wide-ranging talks in Paris. 

Some of key agreements signed are 

• MoU between Larsen and Tubro and AREVA- It aims at improve the financial viability of the Jaitapur Nuclear plant project by reducing cost by increasing localization. It will also enable France to transfer of technology to India for development of indigenous nuclear energy industry in India. 

• Pre-engineering agreements (PEA) between NPCIL and Areva- It intends to bring clarity on all technical aspects of the plant. It will help all parties including AREVA, Alstom and NPCIL to fix their price and optimise all provisions for risks (still included at this stage) in the costs of the project. 

• MoU between CNES and ISRO on Megha Tropiques satellite- It extends MoU for two more years of joint project for sharing and use of data from the satellite. The satellite was launched in October 2011 on board of Indian launch vehicle PSLV. 

• MOU between ISRO, CNES and ONERA- It proposes cooperation in the areas of satellite remote sensing, satellite communications and satellite meteorology and others field. 

• MoU between Union Sports Ministry and French Ministry of Sports- It envisages cooperation and exchange of experiences in the fields of sports medicine and institutional cooperation. 

• Railway protocol between Union Railways Ministry and French National Railways (SNCF)- It seeks to establish cooperation between Indian and French Railways for semi-high speed rail and station renovation. 

• Other agreements signed between both nations in the fields of economy, energy, culture, tourism, conservation, Ayurveda, skill development and science and technology. Note- NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India), CNES (French National Centre for Space Studies), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).