France Promotes Defense Cooperation with India

Broadcast: Feb 06 2003

 

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is promoting economic and defense¹ cooperation with India during a three-day visit to the country. He also says France remains² committed to preventing a war over the Iraq crisis. Mr. Raffarin began his tour in Bangalore city, where the Indian government has organized an ¹⁾aeronautics³ fair. He urged Indian authorities to finalize⁴ a deal to buy 43 Airbus aircraft from France.

India's domestic carrier, Indian Airlines, decided⁵ to upgrade its fleet with the Airbus jets last year, but the Indian government has yet to ²⁾endorse the decision. It is estimated the planes would cost well over $1 billion.

Private companies from more than 22 countries, including Britain and the United States, are represented at the aeronautics fair. They are vying⁶ for Indian aviation and defense contracts worth billions of dollars.

Uday Bhaskar, deputy director at the government-funded Indian Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, Mr. Bhaskar said that France and India are discussing a number of possible defense contracts. "India has ³⁾evinced interest for a certain kind of military aircraft," he noted⁷. "These include the Mirage⁸ [fighter jet], which France is able to supply. There is also talk of an advanced jet trainer for the Indian air force, which has been doing the rounds for many years. And then there is also an engine for the aircraft, which France may be able to provide. And finally there is also a submarine deal, which has been referred to in the past." The French leader also witnessed the signing of joint-venture contracts between French and Indian companies to produce small engines for civil aircraft and military helicopters.

Mr. Raffarin is accompanied by a delegation⁹ of nearly 170 people, including senior ministers and businessmen. Both India and France say they want to expand bilateral¹⁰ trade, which is approximately $1 billion a year.

The French leader will focus on political issues when he meets senior Indian leaders in New Delhi on Friday.

French and Indian officials say both countries want to consolidate¹¹ and widen their friendship. They say, boosting bilateral ties, terrorism, and the situation in Iraq will top the agenda.

In Bangalore, the French prime minister said that U.N. inspectors¹² must study evidence U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presented to the U.N. Security Council so that they can destroy any weapons of mass destruction Iraq possesses.

He reiterated¹³ his country's position that there are ways other than war to resolve the crisis over U.S. ⁴⁾allegations that Iraq still is developing weapons of mass destruction, in violation¹⁴ of U.N. resolutions.

Anjana Pasricha for VOA news, New Delhi

1)    aeronautics[7ZErE5nC:tiks]n. 航空学, 航空术

2)    endorse[in5dC:s]v. 认可, 签署

3)    evince[i5vins]vt. 表明, 表示

4)    allegation[7Ali5^eiFEn]n. 主张，断言, 辩解

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

4 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。

9 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

10 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

11 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

12 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

14 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。