NEW DELHI: India and France have resolved to soon operationalize their bilateral military logistics pact inked in March to provide refueling, repair and berthing facilities to each other’s warships and aircraft, even as the two countries discuss the possibility of holding a joint tri-Service exercise sometime in 2019-2020.This came up during defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman ’s visit to France on October 11-12 for the first annual defence dialogue with her French counterpart Florence Parly, who also handed over a letter from President Emmanuel Macron for PM Narendra Modi to reaffirm the expanding bilateral strategic partnership, said sources on Monday.The logistics pact with France, the second such reciprocal agreement after the first one with the US, will allow Indian warships access to French bases at the Reunion Islands near Madagascar and Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. France, incidentally, also has a naval air station in Abu Dhabi (UAE).The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) inked with the US in 2016, in turn, gives India access to American bases in Djibouti, Diego Garcia, Guam and Subic Bay. Both the pacts, coupled with other moves to establish a couple of turn-around bases in Indian Ocean Region (IOR) countries, are crucial for India to expand its naval footprint to counter China’s strategic moves in the region.China, incidentally, operationalized its first overseas military base at Djibouti in August 2017, apart from already having access to Karachi and other ports in Pakistan for its submarines and warships. Almost around the same time, the Indian Navy launched “mission-based deployments” from the Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait, with around a dozen warships spread across “choke points” in the IOR on round-the-clock patrols for any operational eventuality.During Sitharaman’s visit to Paris last week, the two countries also agreed to “expand the scope and complexity” of the regular joint exercises already being held between their armies (called Shakti), navies (Varuna) and air forces (Garuda), while also bolstering their ongoing maritime security cooperation in the IOR.France will become only the third country with which India will deploy assets and manpower from its Army, Navy and IAF together when the tri-Service exercise is actually held sometime in 2019-2020. India and the US have decided to hold their first-ever tri-Service amphibious exercise off the eastern coast of India next year, as was first reported by TOI.India had deployed over 900 military personnel, along with multi-role stealth frigate INS Satpura, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kadmatt and two IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft in the first such tri-Service exercise called “Indra” with Russia in October 2017.Though the expansive strategic partnership between India and France ranges from space and civil nuclear cooperation to arms acquisitions and joint defence production, the ongoing political slugfest between BJP and Congress over the Rs 59,000 crore contract for 36 Rafale fighters has hogged all the limelight since late last year.Sitharaman, incidentally, also toured the production facilities of Dassault Aviation, which is scheduled to deliver the 36 Rafales to the IAF between November 2019 and April 2022, during her visit. Apart from creating the infrastructure for the Rafales at the Hasimara (West Bengal) and Ambala (Haryana) airbases, the IAF has also stationed a small team of pilots and technical officers in France to prepare for the induction of the fighter jets.