After a year of tensions, Chad is seeking renewed ties with former colonial ruler France amid concerns over a spillover from Sudan's devastating war and rising rebel attacks.
Chad, a key link in the French army's presence in Africa, abruptly ended military cooperation with France in 2024.
But Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno met his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris last week to formalise plans for "a revitalised partnership".
A day later, Chad's defence minister held talks with a representative of French aerospace and defence supplier Safran. The company declined to comment on their discussions when asked by AFP.
Underscoring Chadian interest in investment from France, a bilateral business forum is due to take place in the French capital in April, according to Chadian media reports.
"Chad's decision in November 2024 for French troops to depart did not signify a break in the indelible ties that exist between the two countries," Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul told AFP.
Soldiers and fighter aircraft from France had been stationed in Chad almost continuously since the country's independence in 1960, helping to train the Chadian military.
The largely desert country had been France's last foothold in Africa's Sahel region after the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in the wake of military coups.
But in a surprise move, Deby ended military cooperation, and French troops began leaving in December 2024.
Instead, Chad sought new security partners, such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Hungary and Russia.
However, in April 2023, civil war broke out in Sudan, on Chad's doorstep, destabilising other countries in the region, while the threat from both rebels and jihadists has only grown.
- Disputed support -
Chad shares more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) of border with Sudan, where the government army is fighting its former allies in the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 12 million, nearly a million of them to Chad, according to the United Nations.
Officially neutral in the conflict, Deby is accused by the Sudanese army of facilitating arms shipments from the United Arab Emirates to the RSF.
Recently, "the situation in Sudan is shifting against the RSF", a source close to the Chadian government said.
As Washington pushes for a swift resolution of the conflict, Chad's government is "worried about the future of (its) partnership with the United Arab Emirates", said researcher and central Africa specialist Roland Marchal.
"The assistance provided to the RSF is extremely controversial within the military and security apparatus," he added.
Influential members of the Zaghawa community, from which Deby is descended, are critical of such help.
The community lives on both sides of the border, notably in Darfur, where the RSF is accused of human-rights violations.
The conflict has also spilled over the border, further piling pressure on Deby. Chad has condemned two incursions since late December by the RSF, which killed nine Chadian soldiers.
Before 2024, "with France's support, Chad had a much greater ability to secure its borders," said Chadian political analyst Yamingue Betinbaye.
- Military limits -
"Seeing the tide turning, the president of the republic anticipated the threat by drawing closer to France," the source close to the Chadian government said.
Deby was "guided by a need for security", the source added.
Chad's armed forces already face an ongoing battle against rebel groups.
Last month, several Chadian soldiers were killed in clashes in the country's south.
Marchal, the French researcher, said the rebel threat was evolving from attacks traditionally mounted in the east.
The Chadian army no longer has the intelligence or technical back-up it once had from France, which likely would have allowed it to "handle the southern rebellion with ease", Betinbaye said.
French intelligence could also benefit Chad on a third front, according to Marchal.
The Islamist group Boko Haram and a splinter movement, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), continue to roam the Lake Chad region.
The French "know the (Chadian) army and will no doubt be much more at ease doing this job than the Turks or Americans ever will be", Marchal said.
Chad also hopes France will plead its case at the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Marchal said.
For France, meanwhile, a rapprochement with Chad offers the chance to "regain a foothold in the Sahel" a year after its forces were forced to leave "under rather humiliating conditions", the specialist added.
By Ali Abba Kaya, With Guillaume Gerard In Libreville