Left to right: India’s President Ram Nath Kovind’s wife Savita Kovind, India’s President Ram Nath Kovind, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, his wife Brigitte and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold hands during a ceremonial reception at the Indian Presidential Palace in New Delhi on March 10. (AFP)

NEW DELHI, March 10, (Agencies): French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said defence ties with India had reached a new high after the two nations signed a key security accord for the Indian Ocean to counter China’s growing infl uence in the region. “Defence cooperation between the two countries now has a new significance,” Macron said as a gushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood by his side. Under the deal, India and France will open their naval bases to warships from each other, a move seen as an attempt to undermine China’s territorial ambitions. “A strong part of our security and the world’s stability is at stake in the Indian Ocean,” Macron said.“The Indian Ocean, like the Pacific Ocean, cannot become a place of hegemony,” he added in an apparent reference to China. Modi, who welcomed Macron with a bear hug on his arrival Friday, said the accord was crucial as the Indian Ocean region would play a “very significant role” in the days to come. The comments from the leaders followed a slew of agreements signed by the two countries in the spheres of defence, space and clean energy.“From the ground to the sky, there is no subject on which India and France are not working together,” said Modi. A technical agreement was also signed on the French-assisted nuclear power project at Jaitapur in western Maharashtra state. Sources in the French presidency told AFP they were optimistic of a final agreement being signed before the end of the year. The $9.3-billion framework agreement for six nuclear reactors was signed during a visit to India in 2010 by then president Nicolas Sarkozy.