India's PM Narendra Modi addresses Indian community in France

India announced a new multi-billion-dollar deal for French fighter jets on Thursday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Paris for a two-day trip that will see him feted as guest of honour during France's national day celebrations.

India's Defence Ministry said that the country intended to order 26 more Rafale jets as well as another three Scorpene-class submarines. India is one of the biggest buyers of French arms, and Modi announced a landmark deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets during a 2015 trip to Paris that was worth around 4.0 billion euros at the time.

Modi has visited France four times since Macron came to power in 2017, while Macron was honoured with a state visit to New Delhi in 2018. Aides on both sides have talked up the personal chemistry between the two leaders and pointed to cooperation on climate change, space technology and nuclear power as part of a 25-year-old "strategic partnership" between France and India.