A common vision to achieve a “multipolar Indo-Pacific” is a key driving force behind the growing strategic ties between India and France, an expert has told Sputnik.
“France is a time-tested partner of India and has demonstrated a mature understanding of India’s political engagements at the international level. This political maturity has allowed both countries to deepen strategic ties at a pace much faster than any other European country,” remarked Don McLain Gill, a Manila-based foreign policy expert and the Director of South and Southeast Asia at the Philippine-Middle East Studies Association.
The Indo-Pacific expert underlined that the “mutual trust” shared between New Delhi and Paris has also paved the way for “critical security engagements” between the two nations, including transfer of technology for key defense projects.
Gill noted that France’s NATO allies, which include the US, have been “wary” of sharing technological expertise with India.
The remarks come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Paris for a two-day official visit. Modi has said that the crucial visit would pave the way for a “roadmap” for the next 25 years of the “strategic partnership” between the two nations.
New Delhi says that India and France share a “convergent outlook” on regional and global issues important for India, be it the vision of an inclusive Indo-Pacific, counter-terrorism, multilateral governance reforms and a permanent membership for India at the UN Security Council.
France, India Seek to Avoid ‘Geopolitical Polarization’ of Indo-Pacific
Gill underlined that the growing strategic ties between France and India, underpinned by adherence to “strategic autonomy”, could prove to be a factor of stability in the Indo-Pacific which otherwise is “marred by geopolitical polarization”.
“New Delhi and Paris do not only have remarkable material capabilities, but both also share a distinct understanding of the dynamism of the region,” Gill stated.
French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that France’s Indo-Pacific strategy “must not be directed against anyone” and could be a “key contribution to international stability”.
During a joint press statement with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in April, Macron re-affirmed France’s intention to “support a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations, oppose the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation”.
Catherine Colonna, France's Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, said during a visit to India last year that both New Delhi and Paris remained “eager to retain our strategic autonomy”.
In fact, France has broken ranks with its NATO allies as the 31-nation Euro-atlantic alliance doubled down on the plan to expand its security footprint to the Indo-Pacific after it described China as a “challenge” to its "interests, security and values”.
Macron has reportedly told the NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that NATO should stick to its “geographical scope”, which is the north Atlantic region.
France has also opposed the trilateral AUKUS pact involving US, the United Kingdom and Australia, under which the Royal Australian Navy will get access to technology to domestically manufacture nuclear submarines (SSBNs).
Australia’s abrupt decision in 2021 to scrap a diesel-electric submarine contract originally awarded to France’s Naval Group in favour of AUKUS subs was described as a “stab in the back” by Paris.
France calls itself a “resident power” of the Indo-Pacific, having overseas territories in both Indian and Pacific Oceans.
It claims that 93 percent of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) area is located in the Indo-Pacific, which is the second largest in the world. Nearly two million French citizens live in the Indo-Pacific, as per the French government.
It also claims that nearly 7,000 French security personnel are already stationed in different territories across the Indo-Pacific.
France Has Demonstrated ‘Mature Understanding’ of India’s Needs
Gill reckons that France has shown a greater understanding of India’s strategic needs than other western powers.
New Delhi has described defence and security cooperation, space cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation as the “principal pillars” of its strategic ties with France.
In fact, France has emerged as India’s second-largest defense supplier behind Russia in the 2017-22 time period, according to Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
New Delhi has acquired 36 Rafale fighter jets in a fly-away condition from France’s Dassault Aviation under a mega deal announced by Prime Minister Modi during a visit to Paris in 2015. The purchase was valued at nearly $8.8 billion.
India also signed a deal with France’s Naval Group in 2006 to domestically build six Scorpene-class diesel-electric submarines under a technology transfer agreement, according to a brief on India-France ties by India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The fifth submarine under the ‘P75’ Project was delivered to the Indian Navy this year, New Delhi said.
On Thursday, India’s Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, greenlighted the acquisition of 26 Rafale Marine aircraft and ancillary equipment such as weapons, simulator, spares, crew training and logistical support from the France in an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), according to Indian defense ministry.
The defense ministry has also sanctioned the procurement of three additional Scorpene submarines, which will be built in India.