India and France agreed Friday to strengthen military cooperation and move beyond a "buyer-seller relationship," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday.
"I think it is very important that India and France should cooperate, share information and intelligence gathering for defence of the values which are dear to both our countries," the prime minister said in a joint news conference with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"We have agreed to go beyond a buyer-seller relationship. We will increasingly focus on joint research and development projects, transfer of technology and greater military exchanges," he added.
The two sides had earlier signed an agreement on protecting classified defence information.
"A global fight against terrorism is essential to protect open, democratic and multi-cultural societies like our two countries," Singh said, adding the two sides "reaffirmed our strong mutual desire to further strengthen our strategic partnership."
"This partnership is longstanding and rests on shared values and similar approaches to regional and global issues." Singh said.
