S. Samuel C. Rajiv
November 2022 saw the visit of the French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu as well as the US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro to India. Lecornu was in New Delhi for the Fourth India–France Defence Dialogue, where both countries decided to enhance military industrial cooperation with a focus on Make In India (MII). Apart from their interactions in New Delhi, Lecornu and Del Toro also visited Kochi, the headquarters of the Southern Naval Command, where the indigenously constructed aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, is also based. The visits of the French and the American delegations brought into focus their parallel efforts to secure the contract for equipping India’s indigenous aircraft carrier with a fighter wing.