France informs India of decision to implement a scheme for expedited 48 hours visa issuance for Indian tourists. — Syed Akbaruddin (@MEAIndia) April 10, 2015

Our strategic partnership has reached a new level that will benefit both our nations: PM @narendramodi — PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 10, 2015

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that India has requested France to give 36 Rafale fighter jets in 'fly-away condition' as quickly as possible. The decision on Rafale jets was among the several agreements reached between the two countries after a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with French President Francois Hollande Calling France a valued friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there is no such sphere where India and France are not cooperating.Prime Minister heaped praise on France for standing with India on various issues."I'm grateful to France for their support for India's permanent membership of UN Security Council," PM Modi said.Prime Minister thanked France for supporting his Make in India initiative.Earlier, during the talks the two leaders discussed defence, nuclear issues, economy, cultural and educational ties.France has also agreed to give tourist visas to Indians in 48 hours.President Francois Hollande, reading out the joint statement, said France will invest 2 billion euros in India.France will also help India to develop smart cities and a high speed rail line between Delhi and Chandigarh.An agreement on proceeding forward on the stalled nuclear project in Jaitapur in Maharashtra was among the 17 pacts signed after the talks between Modi and Hollande.The Jaitapur project, where French company Areva is to set up six nuclear reactors with total power generation capacity of about 10,000 MW, is stuck for long because of differences over the cost of electricity to be generated.PM Modi and French President also released stamps to mark 50 years of India-French cooperation.After delegation-level talks, several agreements were signed in the presence of the two leaders.(Images: MEA/Twitter)(With inputs from agencies)