Indo-French ties

At a time when India is recalibrating its diplomatic outreach, the strengthening of the India-France strategic partnership assumes strategic significance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just hosted French President Immanuel Macron. Macron participated along with 20 world leaders in the AI summit in New Delhi. Ahead of the visit the Defence Acquisition Council cleared the deal for purchase of Rafale fighter aircrafts for India’s Air Force. The aircraft proved its capability during ‘Operation Sindoor’ in May last year.

The Indian Air Force operates 36 Rafales and the Indian Navy is in the process of inducting 26 Rafale M aircrafts for carrier operations. The acquisition of Rafale fighter jets from France reflects India’s adherence to self-reliance or Atmanirbhar Bharat and diversification of defence needs. The strategic partnership between India and France has acquired heft in recent years. Earlier in 2023 India hosted President Macron as the Chief Guest of the Republic Day parade on 26 January.

New Delhi reciprocated the gesture extended to Prime Minister Modi in July 2022 when he was the guest at the Bastille Day parade. There are many facets to Indo-French relations. The clarion call of the French Revolution for freedom and equality echoed in India’s yearning for independence in India’s freedom struggle. India and France established diplomatic relations in 1947 immediately after India’s independence. It augurs well that in spite of the shifts in geo-politics, the ties between the two countries have not only endured, but have also acquired strategic heft.

The relationship between the two countries was elevated to a strategic level in 1998. The bilateral strategic partnership between India and France touches various areas including defence and security cooperation, space cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation. The two countries also have a convergence of views on a broad range of issues including UN reforms, regional and international issues including climate change, terrorism, and maritime security including freedom of navigation. India and France also share a robust cultural and linguistic interface through people-to-people contacts and institutions. The Alliance Francaise in India is a testament of French culture and language in India. Auroville in Pondicherry is yet another icon of India-France spiritual convergence.

Started by the Mother, a devotee of Sri Aurobindo, Auroville continues to be a hermitage for people seeking spiritual pursuits. All these years, there have been regular exchanges of visits between the two countries at various levels. President Macron participated in the G-20 summit hosted by India in New Delhi in September 2023 and held bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Modi on various issues. Earlier Prime Minister Modi met President Macron on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Bali in 2022. The two leaders share a chemistry of warmth and bonhomie. In addition to personal meetings, Prime Minister Modi and President Macron have reached out to each other through tele-conversations to share their thoughts on issues of concern to both the countries.

In a letter, President Macron thanked Prime Minister Modi for India’s decision to lift export bans on life saving drugs such as paracetamol, which was exported to France when it was in the midst of the first wave of the pandemic. President Macron expressed solidarity with India in the fight against Covid-19 by providing medical equipment and technical expertise. Prime Minister Modi virtually addressed the Paris Peace Forum on the theme “Bouncing Back to Better Future” in November 2020. The two countries also have an annual Strategic Dialogue mechanism. The last meeting was held in January. The dialogue was co-chaired by India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and his French counterpart Emmanuel Bonne, the French President’s diplomatic Adviser, who also met Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.

The two countries have also initiated a trilateral cooperation mechanism with like-minded partners in the region. The first such trilateral meeting was with Australia in September 2020 and the second was with the United Arab Emirates in February 2023. Also, through a unique model of Triangular Development Cooperation, India and France aim to work on setting up the Indo-Pacific Triangular Cooperation (IPTDC) Fund with the objective to support climate and SDG focussed innovations and start-ups from third countries of the Indo-Pacific. An important aspect of the strategic partnership between the two countries is defence cooperation. In terms of defence technology France has earned a good name and it is a welcome sign that France has come forward to offer advanced defence technology to India. France is offering India state of the art equipment.

At a time when India is modernising its defence production as per Prime Minister Modi’s vision of Atmanirvar Bharat, the India-France synergy is poised to open vistas of cooperation and collaboration between the two countries. Considering the fragile security environment in India’s neighbourhood and also in the Indian Ocean Region, the need to scale up India’s defence capability can hardly be overemphasised. France has already delivered 36 Rafale fighter aircrafts which has added sinews to the Indian Air Force. France is also supplying 26 maritime versions of the Rafale-M. India and France hail the success of the first Scorpene submarine construction programme.

France is also a member of the International Solar Alliance, an initiative of developmental partnership by India for clean energy. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Indo-French partnership, both countries have agreed to a road map to set the calendar for the bilateral relationship up to 2047, which will celebrate the centenary of India’s independence, the centenary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and 50 years of strategic partnership. France is poised to play a very significant role in realising Prime Minister Modi’s dream of making India a developed nation or Viksit Bharat by 2047.

(The writer is a former senior fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research and the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Currently he is the Consulting Editor of the Journal Parliamentary Information. Views are personal)

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Indo-French ties

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