French President Macron’s visit saw the signing of multiple bilateral deals and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation.
The comprehensive ‘Joint Statements’ and stress on strategic cooperation in ‘Indian Ocean Region’ highlighted the growing importance of the relationship.
What is the historic evolution of the relationship?
There were limits to bilateral cooperation during the cold war period as France was a NATO member.
After the end of cold war, India-France Strategic Partnership was launched in 1998 to boost bilateral ties, and two eventful decades have passed since.
Cooperation in diverse fields covering - defence, space, counter-terrorism, education, culture, economics, climate change, culture, urban development, science and technology have taken shape over the years.
After India went nuclear in 1998, France was the first major power to open dialogue and display greater understanding of India’s security compulsions.
It was also the first P-5 country to support India’s claim for a permanent seat in an expanded and reformed UN Security Council.
How has cooperation in the security domain evolved?
Arms Trade - Cooperation began in the 1950s when India started sourcing high-end military hardware (aircrafts, helicopters) from France.
An agreement for building six Scorpène submarines in India with French help was signed in 2005 and one has already been commissioned (INS Kalveri).
The government-to-government agreement for 36 Rafale aircraft recently moved forward after prolonged negotiations.
An ambitious offset target of 50% of the Rafale deal (25,000 crores approx) for reinvestment in India could possibly boost India’s budding aerospace industry.
Also, technology sharing and acquisitions of short range missiles and radar equipment were concluded recently.
Working Partnership – “Strategic Dialogue” has been established, to enhance cooperation in defence, intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism.
MoUs were signed for reciprocal logistics support to each other’s armed forces, and exchange and reciprocal protection of classified information.
Terror strikes in recent years have enlarged the scope of counter-terrorism cooperation to include cyber security and discussions on de-radicalisation.
Joint exercises between the air forces and the armies were instituted in 2003 and 2011, respectively and joint navel exercise “Varuna” dates back to 1983.
Indian Ocean Region - There has been a growing convergence of interests in maritime cooperation in this region due to the expansionist Chinese foray.
Also, French overseas territories in the Indian and the Pacific Oceans provide it with the second largest exclusive economic zone globally.
Notably, France has long maintained bases in Reunion Islands and Djibouti and established one in Abu Dhabi in 2009.
What are the other aspects of mutual cooperation?
Space - French assistance for the construction of “Sriharikota Launch Site” in 1960 marked the beginning of ties and both are now big players in the sector.
Currently, many Joint missions for space awareness, earth observation with applications in meteorology, oceanography and cartography are undertaken.
Inter-planetary exploration and space transportation systems are cutting edge science and technology areas that have also been identified.
Energy - An agreement was for building six pressurised nuclear reactors with a capacity of 9.6 GW was sealed a decade ago, but little has progressed.
The current bilateral has reiterated the commitement for the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharastra, and it is hoped that there will be progress.
Climate change and renewable energy resources (particularly solar), has also emerged as an important sector in the bilateral cooperation.
The multilateral initiative “International Solar Alliance” (ISA) was launced on the sidelines of Paris Climate Talks and currently has 61 members.
Urban Development - Planning, construction and management of services like housing, transport, water, and sanitation is also a domain of convergence.
Under the Smart City Mission, France has tied up with the corporations of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Pondicherry for various projects.
For a wider partnership, strengthening business-to-business and people-to-people relationships is essential and this needs to be facilitated.
Trade - While bilateral trade has grown in recent years, it currently stands at merely $10 billion, which provides ample scope for trade enhancement.
Private sector seems to have recognized this as agreements worth $16 billion were signed at the recently held business summit.
Notably, more than 1000 French companies operate in India and 100s of Indian enterprises have sprouted up in France in recent years.
Also, while U.K. has traditionally been the entry point for most Indian companies to E.U. markets, Mr. Macron has now pitched France as a suitable alternative entry destination in the post-Brexit scenario.
Educational - Currently about 2,500 Indians go to France annually to pursue higher education, compared to more than 250,000 from China.
By 2020, France has envisioned to host 10,000 Indian students and agreements for mutual recognition of academic degrees is also in the pipeline.
Tourism - France has targed to attract 1 million Indian tourists and India on has aimed for 335,000 French tourists by 2020.
These targets are modest considering that France has an intake of 80 million tourists and India takes 9 million annually.
These numbers should be viewed in the present cotext where Indo-French direct people to people contact is current very low.
