New Delhi, Dec 17: The two-day meeting of the 10th India-France High Committee on Defence Cooperation (HCC) will begin here today.

Defence related activities such as joint exercises, high-level visits, transfer of technology and activities relating to co-development and co-production will be discussed at the meeting.

The meeting will be co-chaired by Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and representative of French Minister of Defence Thierry Borja de Mozota.

Under this High Committee, there are three sub-committees. The sub committee on military cooperation has representatives from the headquarters of integrated defence services and the three services.

The second sub committee deals with strategic issues and the third one is on defence industry procurement and research and technology.

The sub committee on military cooperation will role out plan for service to service activities for the forth coming year while the sub committee on strategic issues will discuss matters relating to regional issues.

The sub committee on defence industry procurement and research and technology will discuss the transfer of technology, joint development and production.

It may be recalled that a bilateral MoU on supply of defence equipment was signed with France in January 1982 in the context of the sale of Mirage Aircraft, aimed at the uninterrupted supply of defence equipment, services and related technology from France to India.

A Defence Cooperation Working Group set up under the MoU met regularly until 1995 when it was interrupted because of the reported French move to sell Mirage 2000 Aircraft to Pakistan.

Subsequently, as a result of initiative of the Former President Jacques Chirac during his visit to India in 1998, a Government to Government agreement was reached and cooperation in the field of defence was revitalized following which the Indo-French High Committee on Defence Cooperation meetings are conducted every year alternatively in India and France.

The ninth meeting of this committee was held on November 9, 2006 in Paris. (ANI)