comment: >
  
  Oh, I don't know. Maybe RUSSIA?! Which India is wholeheartedly supporting.
context: Pondicherry: looks sideways briefly >
  
  French defense alignment means closer ties to the west. There's no way around it really. Your systems will use more NATO standards if you use a NATO nation as a partner >
  
  India is in an interesting position regarding national defense. On one hand the US is the obvious partner, but US arms are expensive and come loaded with a lot of requirements and ‘strings’ attached. If you can afford it and you’re more or less US-aligned then it’s the no-brained, the premium product.
  But India doesn’t really have either of those things, historically they’re aligned with Russia in terms of arms, but of course Russia has just shown itself to be comically incompetent and their arms mediocre at best. India therefore has to seriously consider investing more and more in a domestic defense industry, and France has a lot of experience in that regard, it’s cheaper, and it expects a lot less in terms of compliance and alignment than the US. 
  Granted the result will be below the US military standard, but what is India’s threat model exactly? Mostly India is worried about Pakistan and China, and for the former any Western arms will do. For the latter there’s no going it alone, but also there’s a limit to what China can be expected to bring to bear against an even more populous nation with a terrain advantage. In the end France is probably a decent mix of cheap and available. >
  
  Israel also makes some military deals with India. >
  
  True, but Israel doesn’t have the experience or capacity to help a country as vast as India develop its own domestic defense industry in the way that France can.
  I say this with gritted teeth, I don’t like it, but it’s true. >
  
  I think for building their own domestic defence industry, Russia is probably still the best option for now. But hopefully that switches to mainly the US as India grows. >
  
  It’s certainly cheaper and easier to get technology transfers from Russia, but if India is planning out the next 25 years or so, they must be worried that anything they get from Russia will stand up to China’s ambitions in that same period. >
  
  French Air Force won the 46 Indian navy jet deal recently, beating out Boeing. Wouldn’t be surprised if they made more deals with India. >
  
  The rumor is that they won the 26 indian navy jet deal.
  It's not been officially  announced.
  Probably  because they may have  beaten Boeing but there's  no  deal yet..
  Money, terms, combined  order with air force jets, building  in India, lack of approvals are all likely suspects >
  
  India is a great asset against China >
  
  France, also, just announced a partnership  with Japan and England to design and build a line new of  jet freighter aircraft . It appears that  this is a major foreign policy push for France to develop defence industry partnerships in Asia.. It looks like the French want to  reasert some of  the influence that they had  in Asia before the Viet Nam war >
  
  
  France, also, just announced a partnership  with Japan and England to design and build a line new of  jet freighter aircraft . 
  
  Not true.
  France has partnered with Germany and Spain to build their next gen fighter, the "FCAS" program.
  Japan and England have partnered with Italy to build their take on a next gen fighter, the "GCAP" program. >
  
  Thank you. For clearing this uo >
  
  This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 75%. (I'm a bot)
  
  
  French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain has said his country wants to be a partner in the process of building a national industrial base for defence industries in India.
  "We understand that also because we are a highly independent country and we have been through that process also. We want to be a partner in the process to build a national industrial base for defence industries in India," he said.
  Asked about relations between the two countries, Lenain said "The bilateral ties between India and France are exceptionally good and trustworthy."
  
  
  Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: country^#1 Lenain^#2 India^#3 France^#4 French^#5 >
  
  India, Burkina Faso is on line 1.
  It seems like a lot of Westerners on Reddit are not concerned about OPEC countries, Pakistan or India's future relationships with China and Russia, and any economic partnership that might rival the US/OPEC Dollar.
  Just because some of these countries are dependent on the west does not mean the west is not dependent on them as well. 
  Countries like Turkey and Pakistan are a good example of how allies can have close relationships w groups on either side of the fence. >
  
  Name an important global issue for the next few decades. China? Climate? Trade? India is a crucial potential ally with all of these issues. It’s asinine to not reach out.