French defence minister Herve Morin in India

New Delhi, Dec. 4 (ANI): French defence minister Herve Morin, who is India . received a ceremonial Guard of Honour from the three wings of Indian defence forces in New Delhi on Friday.

Herve Morin arrived here on Thursday, on a two-day visit to India.

Indo-French defence cooperation agreements in the past have been in areas of science research and development, production of weapon systems, joint military exercises, counter-mechanisms to thwart international terrorism and the sharing of military technology and hardware expertise.

Cooperation between French and Indian defence firms was evident in the development of the engine of the Shakti helicopter involving Turbomeca and India's state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

India and France share a discreet but efficient collaboration through the Strategic Dialogue, which was first, inked in 1998, and has been upgraded at regular intervals to allow for a regular exchange of concrete information on terrorism.

President Sarkozy's first visit to India between January 25 and 27, 2008, provided a fresh impetus to the strategic partnership between the two countries.

France has played a significant role in ensuring a Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines waiver for India and has been a strong supporter of the Indo-US nuclear deal. (ANI)