Round The World
New
Delhi, 15 July 2023
India-France Ties
TOWARDS GOLDEN JUBILEE!
By Dr D.K Giri
(Secretary General, Assn for Democratic
Socialism)
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has been on a two-day visit to Paris. On his arrival, in
an interview to Les Echos he outlined the purpose of his visit and what
is likely to transpire between him and the French President Emmanuel Macron. At
the time of writing, he had met the French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne who
in a special gesture had received Modi at the airport with a ceremonial welcome
and guard of honour. He also met the President of the Senate, Gerard Latcher.
Immediately
after a high-powered state visit to the United States of America, Modi’s visit
to Paris is perceived to be quite strategic. Interestingly, the India-France
strategic partnership is completing 25 years. Modi in his interview to the said
Frenchnewspaperasserted that India-France ties are geared for next 25 years
towards meeting it a Golden Jubilee. He made a strong pitch for resetting the
international political and economic order. He emphasised that Global South was
not given the legitimate space in the international arena. The gap between the
West and Global South was widening. Modi also questioned the sagacity of
conductingthe world affairs by the all-powerful UN Security Council that
excludes the most populous country of the world i.e. India as a permanent
member.
Underlining
the inherent strength of India consisting of democracy and diversity, Prime
Minister Modi offered that India could be the bridge between West and the
Global South. Addressing a packed auditorium of people largely of Indian
origin, he said Tamil is the world’s oldest language. He announced to the
gathering that a statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar would be set up in France. Modi
said that a statue of the great poet saint of Tamil Nadu in France is an honour
for India. And added, “It is a matter of great pride that the oldest language
in the world is Indian”. France is indeed according the great honour to Indian
Prime Minister by making him the Chief Guest in the famous Bastille Day
celebrations.
In
addition to such an honour to the Indian Prime Minister, a tri-service Indian Contingent
will participate in the military parade in the celebration. Three aircraft of
the Indian Air Force will conduct a fly past during the parade. All these
perhaps made Modi describe the visit as ‘particularly special’.
From
Modi’s brief to the French media, it appears that his visit is focused on
enhancing the defence partnership. Just on the eve of his visit, the Defence
Acquisition Council (DAC) shared by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved
the procurement of 26 Rafael-M fighters, which will be operated out of the
aircraft carrier. In addition, three more Scorpene-class diesel-electric
submarines from France. This is a big-ticket defence deal that will happen
during the Prime Minister’s visit.
There
are other several defence deals in the offing during Modi’s visit. These
include a plan to jointly develop fighter jet engines for the fifth-generation
advance medium combat aircraft and the twin-engine deck-based fighters to
operate from carriers. The South Block claims that these deals are in line
with, “reorientation of our security partnership in line with Aatma Nirbhar
Bharat objectives and supply chain integration between the industry and
business of the two countries.”
To be
sure, India-France partnership contains multiple dimensions in a bilateral
cooperation with a strong strategic component. The crucial sectors include
defence, civil nuclear energy, space, cyber security, renewable energy, counter
terrorism, intelligence etc. The bilateralism is based on high level of trust
and a shared perspective on international issues. Such growing mutual trust has
moved India and France from a bilateral partnership to addressing global challenges.
Modi emphasised that his perspective on international politics and economy is
shared by the French President.
More
important, India and France are conversing on the security in the Indo-Pacific
region, which draws international attention after Quad came into existence to the
chagrin of the Chinese leadership. However, France and India are looking at the
maritime economy in the region in terms of blue economy, marine technology,
fisheries, port and shipping. President Macron had outlined France’s India-Pacific
strategy consisting of foregoing elements. India’s interest converge with the
French strategy as India stands for a free,open, inclusive, rule-based
India-Pacific region which is necessary for its economic development and for
the benefit of wider global community.
It is to
be noted that India-France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) successfully
concluded their first trilateral maritime exercise in the Gulf of Oman on June
8 this year. The exercise was aimed at enhancing maritime security and inter-operability
between the three countries. India and France are engaged in third country
project in other parts of the world. For instance, India, France, and Australia
trilateral partnership focused on maritime security and blue economy in the
India-Pacific region was unveiled in 2021. India-France strategic partnership
is growing from strength to strength. The entry of France to India-Pacific
region presents a promising as well as challenging dimension to their
bilateralism.
The
other important area which may figure in the discussion is the challenge of
maintaining secularism in their respective countries. Interestingly, the
concept of secularism called ‘laicite’ in French meaning separation of
the church from the state, originated in France. Yet, the tensions involving
the religious minorities are growing in both countries. It will be timely for
both leaders to share experiences and come to a common mindset in addressing
the problem. Although contexts are different the consequences of religious
strife are the same. India and France will do well to rebuild pluralism by
innovating on their social, cultural and religious policies. At any rate,
Modi’s visit will deepen the bilateralism between India and France and lead
them to take common position in the world affairs.
The
European Union has just passed a resolution in their Parliament urging
Government of India to address urgently the Manipur menace of violence. New
Delhi has rejected a dialogue with the EU on the issue. It is true that the European
Union stand technically amounts to interference in the internal affairs of a
sovereign country. It has done it in the past at the time of Gujarat riots in
2002. Having said that, India should not give any opportunity for the outside
powers to speak on her internal matter. France may help in resolving the
divergence between the Union of India and the European Union on religious
matters or the special economic treaty on which the interactions are still not
conclusive.----INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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