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Round The World
New Delhi, 8 March 2024
India-France Dialogues
BOLSTERING THE PARTNERSHIP
By (Prof.) Dr. D.K. Giri
(Secretary General, Assn for
Democratic Socialism)
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Anne-Marie
Descotes, Secretary General of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign
Affairs on Tuesday last to review the strategic partnership between the two
countries. The meeting took place under the mechanism of Foreign Office
Consultation (FOC) that has been taking place between India and France. The
outcome of the meeting, according to Jaishankar is that “Strategic partnership
between two nations is growing from strength to strength.”
During the meeting, both countries took stock of a various
aspects of bilateralism which was initiated in the strategic partnership
between the two launched on 26 January 1998. This was the first strategic
partnership India had with any country. It embodies the core vision of both
India and France of maintaining their respective strategic autonomies by
drawing on a strong bilateral cooperation. The pillars of this partnership are
sectors like defence and security, civil-nuclear matters, space, maritime
security, digitalisation, cyber security, advance computing, counter terrorism,
climate change, renewable energies, sustainable growth and development. It also
has a strong India-Pacific component.
The other instrument which outlined the contours of
bilateralism is the India-France Horizon 2047 Roadmap devised on 14 July 2023
when Prime Minister Modi visited Paris as a Guest of Honour on their National
Day. This was when the strategic partnership completed 25 years. Now the Roadmap
extends this partnership for another 25 years. The end of this period
interestingly will mark the centenaries of India’s independence and diplomatic
relations between both countries.
Just before the Prime Minister’s visit from 6-9 July, a
four-day festival of India called ‘Namaste France’ was organised. The festival
drew a lot of renowned Indian performing and visual artists – classical, modern
and contemporary for live performances and exhibitions showcasing India’s
diversity and culture and cuisine to over 2,000 visitors. The festival
underlined the interest of people-to-people ties, and cultural exchanges.France
has a centre for language and culture in New Delhi called Alliance Francaise in
New Delhi.
On the recent dialogue, the FOC is the central mechanism
between two countries that deals with all aspects of India-France exchanges. It
offers a platform for both nations to align their priorities and cooperate
effectively on shared challenges. Overall, the FOC consultations are indicative
of strengthening bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two nations.
On 4 March, two other bilateral dialogues took place: India
and France Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Dialogue. The two sides discussed
developments relating to nuclear, chemical and biological domains. It also
covered conventional weapons including AI in the military domain and lethal
autonomous weapon systems and multilateral export control regimes. India has
been committed to the goal of universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable
nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, as a responsible nuclear-weapon state, India
is committed to maintaining a minimum deterrence with the position of no-first
use and no use against non-nuclear states.
The other meeting that took place on 5 March was the
Strategic Space Dialogue, the second in the series. Under this, both sides
reviewed the progress since the first dialogue and the bilateral engagement in
the space sector. They also talked about possibility of cooperation in the G2G
and commercial segments. The inaugural India-France Strategic Space Dialogue
was held in Paris on 26 June 2023. There was also discussion on the implementation
of the Letter of Intent recently signed on Defence Space Cooperation – capacity
building, training and space exchanges and Defence Space Industrial
Cooperation.
The India-French space partnership is nearly six decades
old; it dates back to 1964 when India’s space programme was inchoate as it was
experimenting with sounding rockets for Thumba in Kerala. The partnership that
evolved covered collaborations in technologies for satellite launches,
research, operational applications, innovation and NewSpace partnerships for
Deep Space Exploration. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the
French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) have been partnering closely in
the fields of space medicine, astronaut health monitoring, life support,
radiation protection, space debris protection and personal hygiene systems.
The dialogue on Monday emphasised the importance of
fostering a favourable environment for commercial space activities. Both the
countries acknowledged the potential for growth and innovation in the
commercial space segment and therefore expressed their commitment for building
partnerships and facilitating investments to harness this potential. India and
France seek to explore new horizons in space exploration while strengthening
their long-standing partnership in science and technology.
The dialogues covered a wide range of issues and multiple
sectors: science and technology, blue economy, institutional dialogue
mechanism, cooperation in Indo-Pacific region, climate action, energy
transition, health, trilateral and plurilateral cooperation. On political
front, it covered UNSC reforms, the ongoing war in Gaza, and the tension in Red
Sea and Russia-Ukraine conflict.
India-France bilateral relations go back to the 17th
century when trade exchanges started between two countries. Until 1954, France
maintained a colonial presence in the Indian Sub-Continent. In particular, a
former French territory, Puducherry is a popular tourism destination of
numerous French travellers to India. After the signing of strategic partnership
in 1998, the progress in all areas of bilateral cooperation has been
significant. There have been regular high-level exchanges. The commercial
exchanges also have grown in areas like defence, nuclear energy and space.
In fact, France was the first country with which India
entered into a Nuclear Energy Agreement following the waiver given by IAEA –
International Autonomic Energy Agency and Nuclear Supplier Group. The waiver
enabled India to begin full civil nuclear cooperation with the international
community.
The dialogues on 4 and 5 March foster the relationship
between France and India in terms of collaboration with deeper understanding on
shared priorities and challenges. The relationship is built on shared interests
on several areas in Indian Pacific region and other global issues. Prime
Minister Modi and President Macron share a strong bond. In August 2019, France
has been called “India’s new best friend” by the Hudson Institute, an American
think tank based in Washington.
France is inviting Indian students in a big way to study in
French institutions. As many as 1700 courses are taught in English language in
French institutions. There are upto 400000 Indians working in French companies
in India. To bolster India’s defence, 36 Rafael Aircrafts have been delivered.
All in all, France is considered to be a steady and
reliable partner. As India wishes to see and seeks to build a multipolar world,
France will be a big ally. France has been opposed to the hegemony of either
United States or former Soviet Union. Hence it reconciles to and collaborated
with Germany in constructing the European Union as a new pole of influence in
the world politics. EU has not become so is another discussion. In any case,
the India-France relation is good for both countries and may contribute to
shaping a new world order. ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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