Shastra Puja of Rafale in France; Know all about fighter jet

Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier welcomed Rajnath Singh after he landed at the Bordeaux-Merignac Air Base from Paris on a French military aircraft. He visited the production unit of Dassault Aviation led by Trappier and other French officials.

Rajnath Singh was shown a short audio-visual clip on the history of aircraft manufacturing by Dassault before the handing over ceremony. His French counterpart Florence Parly was also present during the handover ceremony.

"Former (French) President Jacques Chirac had laid the basic groundwork for strategic partnership between India and France along with Prime Minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee. We are thankful to them. Today is a milestone day for Indio-France strategic partnership and a new high in bilateral defence co-operation," he said.

A traditional Shastra Puja (worship of weapons) ceremony will take place, following which Rajnath Singh will undertake a sortie in a twin-seater trainer version of the fighter aircraft.