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India announced on December 22 that French President Emmanuel Macron would be the chief visitor at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January. In line with Indian media studies, his invitation was accomplished on brief discover as a result of U.S. President Joe Biden, who was hoped to be the chief visitor, couldn’t come on account of the annual State of the Union handle in Washington D.C.
Clearly, the French president’s affirmation, regardless of the last-minute request, reiterates for a lot of in India that France is an all-weather good friend that India can depend on. It will likely be the sixth time a French chief has been the chief visitor at India’s Republic Day celebrations. French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac was the chief visitor in 1976 and once more as French president in 1998. Different French leaders so honored have included Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Nicolas Sarkozy, and François Hollande in 1980, 2008, and 2016 respectively.
New Delhi and Paris have so much in frequent by way of their strategic views on a free, open, inclusive, and affluent Indo-Pacific. That the 2 international locations make a giant case for strategic autonomy within the face of main geopolitical churning in each Europe and the Indo-Pacific could be seen as a key driver for India and France to pursue a fair nearer strategic agenda. Additional, the 2 international locations have each pushed for a strengthening of multilateralism and multilateral establishments by making such our bodies extra consultant and efficient.
The joint assertion issued throughout Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s go to to Paris earlier this yr, the truth is, highlighted the “shared values, perception in sovereignty and strategic autonomy, an unwavering dedication to worldwide regulation and the U.N. Constitution, an abiding religion in multilateralism, and a standard quest for a steady multipolar world.”
The variety of high-level visits between India and France is an indication of the significance that the 2 connect to one another. Modi was in France because the chief visitor on the French Nationwide Day celebrations in July 2023. The go to was additionally an event to commemorate the twenty fifth anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership. If one had been to do a fast scan of the paperwork signed between the 2 sides, the go to was a significant success. The 2 put out quite a lot of paperwork, together with a Joint Communique; Horizon 2047 – twenty fifth Anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership, In the direction of a Century of India-France Relations; a record of outcomes; and the India-France Indo-Pacific Roadmap. Thereafter, Macron was in India for the G-20 Summit in September, when the 2 leaders reviewed and took inventory of the numerous agreements signed in the summertime.
India and France have remained shut strategic companions with long-standing cooperation in all strategic sectors, together with civil nuclear vitality, protection, and outer house, and these got here up within the bilateral conferences as properly. The 2 mentioned specifically how the 2 international locations can loop in industries and start-ups to spur cooperation, particularly in nuclear vitality, together with partnerships for co-developing small modular reactor and superior modular reactor applied sciences, digital public infrastructure, crucial expertise, connectivity, vitality, local weather change, and schooling.
France has continued to take pleasure in unconditional assist throughout the complete political spectrum in India and the bigger public, and that helps the Indian authorities to pursue such partnerships with none obstacle, be it within the civil nuclear vitality area or on the standard protection entrance.
Actually, this additionally comes from the sort of staunch assist that India has acquired from France at crucial instances in historical past. As an example, in Could 1998, a number of months after India and France elevated their partnership to a strategic partnership, India carried out its first nuclear assessments, which had been condemned throughout the worldwide group. Many international locations, together with the U.S., Japan, the U.Ok., and others imposed sanctions on India. France was one nation that didn’t condemn or sanction India for the nuclear assessments, which is presumably one thing that New Delhi will proceed to recollect for a very long time.
France is held, due to this fact, in excessive regard inside India’s strategic calculations. And as Mohamed Zeeshan wrote in July this yr, “if India has a pure ally, it’s most likely France.” Japan arguably comes as a detailed second, with no historic baggage. Zeeshan famous France’s position as a center energy with important geographical and geopolitical affect within the Indian Ocean: “France has the right combination of strengths and weaknesses to be India’s precedence protection companion.”
Even throughout Modi’s go to in July, cooperation within the protection sector gave the impression to be excessive on the agenda, with India in want of extra weapons and platforms and the inadequacies of Russian weapons on full show, accelerating the tempo of Indian efforts to diversify its protection commerce companions.
Amid quickly altering steadiness of energy politics, China’s belligerence and profitable protection offers preserve the France-India relationship on an ever-strong footing. Nonetheless, it should even be famous that there are some variations between the 2 on worldwide political points. For instance, France has been a robust supporter of Ukraine and sanctioned Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Equally, France has additionally sought nearer financial ties with China. These are most likely unlikely to make a giant distinction within the bilateral ties between New Delhi and Paris, however they’re noteworthy, nonetheless.
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