Round The World

New Delhi, 8 December 2010

Sarkozy’s Visit

SEALING BROAD-BASED TIES

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies (JNU)

World politics in this globalized age is defined by increasing inter-actions and engagements in diverse sectors. Even if alliances are formed regionally or otherwise, it is not necessarily seen as coming at the expense of other relations. Though the reason behind the policies of nation States is often explained as driven by the vague word ‘national interest’, there remains different set of factors effecting decisions that are hard to authoritatively define.

In this complex maze of inter-secting mutuality and conflict of interests, even allies have challenges to face in their relations while traditional foes have opportunities to ease their edgy relationship. As such, diplomacy is built around the idea of toning down differences and amplifying convergences.

The recent visit of the flamboyant French President Nicolas Sarkozy was his second to India since he came as Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day Celebrations in 2008. The visit, besides being an expected step towards cementing France’s broad-based ties with India (a strategic partnership was established in 1998) should also be seen in the context of India’s improving stature in world politics and the corresponding interest shown by leaders of major countries around the world. Evident by the list of leaders that India has welcomed this year alone, US President Obama came last month.

With the end of the Cold War, world politics has increasingly taken a different turn. There has been a paradigm shift toward multi-lateralism. Often, countries otherwise inter-linked and cooperating in some issues are seen logging horns in others, the vice versa also being true. In this scenario, diplomatic shock absorbers are of prominent importance and that comes only through regular talks and meeting of minds.

Rhetoric and diplomatic niceties play important parts in relations but projected goals and vision of cooperation need to be backed by convergences in material terms, in the form of increased engagement in the political and the economic fields. Lately, as Indo-US ties have managed to hog the limelight when it comes to Indian engagement with the western world, India-France relations need to find its own space.

It entails re-assessing the areas of convergences and divergences to create an atmosphere where New Delhi and Paris would pragmatically raise the levels of engagement. India’s emergence as one of the most lucrative markets in the world has attracted the attention of multiple countries and it is in the interest of both Paris and New Delhi to qualitatively and quantitatively increase the ties in diverse areas. France has been quite proactive on investing in the area of nuclear commerce with its consistent support for India’s primacy in this field. It needs to build on this image of reliability. 

For one, President Sarkozy has been very generous when it comes to supporting India at the international stage, be it endorsing India’s candidature for the permanent membership of the UN Security Council, commenting on India’s increasing stature at the international scenario, praising India’s clean record on non-proliferation, or be it speaking in tune with India on tackling terrorism in all its facets. Reminiscent of how President Obama described India as not an emerging power, but an ‘emerged’ one, President Sarkozy in an interview to a national daily said, “India is not the giant of tomorrow; India is already a giant today: a demographic giant, an economic giant, a political giant.”

After its nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998, India faced nuclear isolation for years. But today, the picture is entirely different and many countries are galloping towards clinching nuclear deals with India. This windfall can largely be attributed to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) waiver granted to India. The NSG waiver has opened the floodgates. And France has come out as one of the strongest and earliest supporters of India joining international nuclear commerce. Cementing ties in this field was top priority for President Sarkozy during his visit.

There have been some lingering concerns vis-à-vis the Nuclear Liability Bill passed by Parliament, but its implementation has to be worked out by both sides in a graduated manner, without hampering vital interests. An “early works” agreement was signed between French nuclear giant Areva and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for implementing the reactors' unit at Jaitapur nuclear plant in Maharashtra.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and French National Space Agency (CNES) signed a MoU for cooperation in the field of earth science and climate change. India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and France's atomic energy commission CEA also agreed to cooperate in the field of nuclear science and technology.

Looking for an increasing foothold in the Indian market, France announced that its companies would invest nearly 10 billion euro by 2012. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said that French commitments could increase if opportunities come up by the opening of insurance and multi-brand retail. A joint statement said that the two Governments were committed to more than doubling their trade by 2012 to 12 billion euro from 5 billion euro in 2008.

The seriousness of any strategic partnership is defined by the range and depth of the defence cooperation. India and France decided to further intensify their defence cooperation, particularly in the field of anti-piracy and maritime security and are expected to finalise soon a deal for upgrading IAF's Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft. Joint military exercises are underway and major strides undertaken with the intent to move further towards co-production and partnership in R&D, namely in co-developing the Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (SRSAM) missile and the Kaveri engine (for India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) or 'Tejas').

The issue of terrorism has almost become ubiquitous in all bilateral and multilateral meets with some good reason and Sarkozy’s visit was no different as he went out to speak against the perpetrators of terrorism and honoured the martyrs of the 26/11 attacks. The French President was quite categorical in his stand against terrorism when he said, “I count on Pakistan authorities to show that they are resolute in combating terrorism.” Both the countries also support the early conclusion of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the UN.

As President Sarkozy tries to maneuver a not-so-rosy image of the French domestic political scene, France-India relationship has the potential to serve as the succor in his foreign policy. India has sailed through global recession relatively unscathed and its stature in the increasingly influential G20 might serve as a soft landing spot for French interest.

As France has just assumed the rotating Presidency of the G20, its ties with an economic power-house like India should look enticing. New Delhi’s ties with Paris are also important seen from the perspective of India’s ties with the EU. Common adherence to the ideas of pluralism, multi-lateralism and democracy has surely put the India-EU relationship on a firm footing. And France being one of the most important players in the EU could find ample opportunities to improve ties with India singularly as well as within the ambit of the rapidly galloping India-EU relations. ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

.