Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, on his first trip to India, inaugurated India's first private military aircraft plant on Monday along with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The inauguration of the facility comes as India seeks to boost its local defense and aerospace manufacturing capacities while Spain bids to increase its investment in the world's fifth-largest economy.

Sanchez was welcomed to India with a parade after which he along with Modi inaugurated the Tata Aircraft Complex, the manufacturing plant which will produce the Airbus C-295 transport military aircraft in collaboration with Airbus Spain and to be deployed by the Indian Air Force.

India's defense ministry signed an agreement of $2.5 billion (€2.3 billion) for 56 cargo and troop-carrying C295 aircraft from Airbus Defense and Space in 2021.

Of these, 16 will be assembled in Seville in Spain — with the first deliveries made last year — the 40 remaining will be produced in India.

The Indian manufacturing unit in Vadodara will complete the first "Made in India" C295 aircraft in 2026.

What did the leaders say about the military unit's launch?

Sanchez said the project was a triumph of Modi's vision "to turn India into an industrial powerhouse and a magnet for investment and business-to-business collaboration."

"This partnership between Airbus and Tata will contribute to the progress of the Indian aerospace industry and will open new doors for the arrival of other European companies," he added.

"This factory will not only strengthen India-Spain relations but also the 'Make in India and Made for the World' mission," Modi said at the inauguration.

Spain is India's 16th biggest foreign investor, with more than 280 Spanish companies in the country.

The Spanish government is seeking investment opportunities in construction, pharmacy, energy, as well as in the railways industry.

mfi/wd (AFP, AP)