France praises India after IAF airbase hosts its Rafale jets

A French Air and Space Force contingent, including three Rafale jets, was hosted in India during Indo-Pacific deployment, a statement issued by the French Embassy in New Delhi said.

The French jets were hosted for a technical stopover by the Indian Airforce’s Sulur airbase in the Coimbatore district of Tamilnadu. The contingent was en route to New Caledonia.

From August 10 to September 18, the French Air and Space Force is carrying out a major long-range mission in the Indo-Pacific, code-named Pegase 22.

The statement released by the French Embassy further added that The first stage of this mission aims to demonstrate France’s capacity for long-distance air power projection by deploying an Air Force contingent from metropolitan France to the French territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean in less than 72 hours (August 10-12).

The French Air Force contingent will participate in the ‘Pitch Black’ air exercise to be held in Australia from August 17 to September 10. Whereas the other participating countries will be India, Australia, Japan, the US, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, the UK, and South Korea.

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