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Indian Foreign Affairs Journal

Published in Association with Association of Indian Diplomats

Current Volume: 19 (2024 )

ISSN: 0973-3248

e-ISSN: 2229-5372

Periodicity: Quarterly

Month(s) of Publication: March, June, September & December

Subject: Political Science & International Affairs

DOI: 10.32381/IFAJ

300

India-France Ties: 25 Years of a Strategic Partnership

By : Manju Seth

Page No: 222-232

Abstract
India and France share a close and special relationship spanning a wide spectrum of convergences, including in the strategic arena. While diplomatic relations were established in 1947 almost immediately after India’s independence, significantly, the first Strategic Partnership entered into by India was with France, in January 1998. Despite India being harangued and sanctioned by the USA and allies after the nuclear tests at Pokhran in May 1998, it was France that stood out as an abiding friend of India, and the partnership has grown stronger and deeper with every passing year. The Strategic Partnership is underpinned by three main pillars of cooperation and collaboration — Defence, Nuclear, and Space/Aerospace. Each of these have witnessed substantive expansion, and continue to define the unique and diverse ties between the two countries.
The Horizon 2047 document issued after the visit of Prime Minister Modi on 13–14 July 2023 to France, gives the roadmap and vision for the future trajectory of the partnership when the centenary of the bilateral ties, and the fiftieth year of the Strategic Partnership will be commemorated.
The ties have been resilient, and the recent visit of the Prime Minister Modi to France re-emphasised that India and France are in it for the long haul. Given that India and France have, over the years, demonstrated the strength of their almost ideal partnership, sharing a commonality of approach on the many global challenges, including Climate Change, Terrorism, Maritime Security, the Indo-Pacific, etc., the uncertainty pervading the global geo-strategic environment will propel both countries towards ensuring that the Horizon 2047 vision. They will also ensure that other initiatives, like the Solar Alliance, Green Hydrogen, and other innovative digital technology projects (including AI), are implemented. Both countries will align their strategies to safeguard their respective core interests, while ensuring the greater global good, and shaping the global agenda.
This essay reviews and examines the progress made in the last 25 years, and the likely future challenges for the India-France Strategic Partnership given the growing emphasis on the Indo-Pacific, and its emergence as an area of contestation between an increasingly assertive China and the USA. While India and France have a stake in both the Indian Ocean and in the Pacific, their policy of strategic autonomy precludes their aligning completely with the US led endeavours of countering China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. In this context, it is imperative that India and France strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and, in addition, possibly establish an India-France collaborative mechanism to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Pacific as also in the Indian Ocean where the threat from China’s activities adversely impacts the interests of both France and India. France has two of its overseas territories/regions in the Indian Ocean — the Mayotte and Reunion Islands — where it maintains a naval base as well as in the Pacific, with the overseas territories of New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis, and Futuna, in which France is a resident power. However, the elements of the France-China relationship are quite different from those of the IndiaChina relationship, and need to be taken cognisance of, going ahead. In the rapidly evolving global environment, it is reiterated that France and India are the best partners for each other in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific, and the future prognosis is one of optimism.

Author :
Amb. Manju Seth : Former Ambassador, important overseas diplomatic assignments included one in Paris and Reunion Island (part of France); Distinguished Fellow, Forum For Global Studies.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/IFAJ.2022.17.3-4.7

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