PARIS, Sept. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- French President Jacques Chirac announced here on Monday the purchase by India of 43 Airbus planes and six Franco-Spanish submarines after holding talks with visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

    "I welcome the prime minister confirming to us today India's decision concerning the purchase of six Scorpene submarines and 43 Airbus planes," Chirac told the press at his Elysee Palace.

French President Jacques Chirac (R) greets India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh outside the Elysee Palace in Paris Sept. 12.  (Xinhua/Reuters)

    He said the deal was "a measure of the friendship, trust and cooperation to which we are sensitive."

    Before their talks, Chirac said his meeting with Singh should be concerning notably India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and the fight against terrorism, as well as the cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.

    He also noted that the cooperation on nuclear energy should be made "in the respect of the non-proliferation rules" and with "the will and determination of progress together in the respect of international rules."  

    Earlier in July, US President George W. Bush promised in New Delhi that he would ask the Congress to lift the sanctions imposed on India after India testing its nuclear weapons.

    Singh is the first foreign leader received by the French president after his one-week hospitalization for a vascular incident. Enditem