Strategic Independence and Multipolarity, Steer India-France Strategic Partnership

Marking 25 years of diplomatic relations between India and France, President Emmanuel Macron has invited Prime Minister Modi as a special guest for the Bastille Day Celebrations. Unlike India’s Republic Day Celebrations where prominent dignitaries are invited annually, France does it occasionally. Prior to Modi, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was the guest of honour in 2018 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh graced the Bastille Day parade in 2009.

For the first time, the 269-strong tri-service Indian contingent marched on the Bastille Day parade to the tune of “Sare Jahan Se Accha” along with the flypast by three Indian Rafales. This march is a reminder of long-denied, India’s consequential contribution to European security. Over 3.5 million Indian men fought in both world wars.

Coming in the aftermath of a landmark State Visit to the US, the conferment of the ‘Grand Cross of the Legion of the Order’ by Macron on PM Modi underscored the rising stature of India in the global milieu. PM Modi is the first Indian to receive such an honour after India attained independence. The bilateral diplomatic ties established in 1947, were elevated to a strategic partnership in 1998 by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and French President Jacques Chirac at politically uncertain times.  At the heart of the strong bilateral ties is robust complementarity which stems from the strategic autonomy in foreign policy and advocacy of multipolarity.

Resonating with the idea of a collaborative approach, India and France on the eve of PM Modi’s visit to Paris, have charted a course for the next 25 years. This long-term ambitious roadmap which signifies a centenary of diplomatic ties and 50 years of strategic partnership is in tune with India’s unflinching “Amrit Kaal” aspirations of attaining self-reliance, especially in the field of defence production and manufacturing. Through a collaborative approach, India and France envisioned setting new benchmarks and productive outcomes and adopted a Joint Statement -“Horizon 2047 Roadmap on the 25^th Anniversary of the Indo-French Strategic Partnership: Towards a Century of India-French Relations”¹.

Terming the relations with France as the most closet and trusted, for the first time India has chalked out Horizon 2047 Roadmap. Broadly laid out under three categories of Partnership for Security and Sovereignty, Partnership for Planet, and Partnership for People to People ties, the elaborate document nearly encompasses multiple facets of cooperation in various areas between the two countries.

Under the arena of security, India has acknowledged France for helping her pursuit of self-reliance in terms of indigenous defence production. In addition to the existing collaboration in defence, countries have committed to cooperating in the co-development and co-production of advanced defence technologies for the benefit of third countries. The draft discussed the development of combat aircraft engines and industrial cooperation over heavy lift helicopters under the Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) program whereby HAL and Safran have concluded the Shareholders’ agreement. Hailing the success of the first Scorpene submarine construction Kalvari under the P75 program, as part of Make in India program, both countries mulled collaboration on other ambitious projects.

With a history of defence industrial partnership, India and France concluded a contract for the transfer of technology on forging and castings for the Shakti Engine and India’s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineering Ltd (GRSE) and Naval Group of France. Both countries are now working towards adopting a Roadmap on Defence Industrial Cooperation¹. Given the uptick in defence industrial collaborations, India is setting up DRDO Technical Office in Paris.

India and France have a comprehensive defence relationship that not only focuses on building the defence ecosystem but also on full-range military exercises as well. To boost the security aspect, India and France are now exploring trilateral cooperation with like-minded countries. To this end, both countries launched a ministerial-level security dialogue with Australia in 2020 and recently with UAE in February 2023. a strategic partner of both countries.

Trilateral cooperation is now evolving as a key pillar of cooperation with both countries setting up an Indo-Pacific Triangular Cooperation (IPTDC) for third countries of the Indo-Pacific region. The fund aims to support climate, green technologies, renewable energy, sustainable development solutions SDG-focused innovations and startups. India and France are planning to work together with third countries in building Digital Public Infrastructures.

What clearly sets, Indo-French bilateral relations apart from others is exceptional warmth, friendship and genuineness. Horizon 2047 which is premised on the “framework of a partnership between equals in consonance with their respective sovereign and strategic interests” ostensibly mirrors mutual trust and confidence in this enduring strategic partnership.

Putting Space at the heart of strategic partnership countries have launched the Strategic Space Dialogue in June 2023. Besides boosting the existing partnership, between ISRO and French Space Agency CNES, the dialogue will augur well for new missions and collaborations on the anvil which include the development of TRISHNA Mission by 2024 (Thermal Infrared Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural Assessment), space-based maritime domain awareness and the collaboration between NSIL (New Space India Limited) and Ariane Space.

Counterterrorism is another arena where the interests of both align. India hosted the third edition of No Money for Terror (NMFT) meeting, a French government initiative in New Delhi in December 2022 to combat terrorism. Firmly advocating reforms of UNSC and revival of multilateralism, France backed the credentials of G4 and representation from Africa for permanent membership.

Both countries pursue and promote active cooperation in advanced digital technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Startups, science and technology, digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, public health and medical cooperation, supercomputing, 5G/6G telecom, digital skill development. France deeply values India as a partner for global leadership in the digital domain and its capabilities in building Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs). Countries are fostering DPIs through InFrastructures (India France Structures) and InFinity (India France Innovation in Information Technology) platforms.

To usher the people of both countries into Digital Century, France has executed an agreement to implement UPI (Unified Payment Interface) becoming the first country in Europe to accept UPI from September 2023.

To jointly address the triple crises of Climate Change, loss of diversity and pollution, India and France have evolved a road map on green hydrogen or decarbonated hydrogen, committed to eliminating the use of single-use plastics and supported the adoption of the Treaty on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).  To strengthen energy security and to meet climate objectives, India and France are working together on low and medium-power modular reactors of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Advanced Modular Reactors.

Underscoring the importance of people-to-people relations for a robust partnership, India and France inked Mobility and Migration in 2021. To promote cross-border mobility, besides linguistic cooperation, countries have agreed to work towards mutual recognition of diplomas and professional qualifications and pledged Euro 1 million in scholarships. France will now issue a five-year validity Schengen visa for Indians with Master’s Degrees from French Universities and exemption of visas on official passports by 2026. India has announced to open Consulate General in Marseilles while France will open Bureau de France in Hyderabad.

In all, the bilateral engagement yielded 63 outcomes which included 5 MoUs on Ocean technology, digital technologies, civil aviation, trade investments, and maritime domain awareness; 4 LoIs (Letter of Intent) for cooperation in the fields of museum and heritage, radio transmission, cooperation in health and medicine, commercial launch services; two joint declarations between ISRO and CNES on development in the field of launchers, cooperation in space. Countries signed an agreement on the evaluation of software and energy security². Bilateral talks yielded three Joint Press releases- Horizon 2047 Indo-France Strategic partnership, Indo-Pacific cooperation, Eliminating Single Use of Plastic Pollution pursuant to the UN Environment Agenda 5.2 resolution.

For an operational engagement in the Indo-Pacific which is an area of concern to both countries, India and France launched an Indo-Pacific cooperation roadmap which is in alignment with PM Modi’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and Macron’s vision of security and cooperation. Supporting India’s willingness to join Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), countries have agreed to strengthen security coordination through Information Fusion Centre- Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in India, European Maritime Awareness in Straits of Hormuz (EMASoH) in UAE and Atalanta, Regional Coordination Operational Centre in Seychelles, Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre in Madagascar and Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships (ReCAAP) in Singapore³.

Having launched International Solar Alliance, India and France are now committed to working on harnessing renewable energies, creating an ecosystem for sustainable development of maritime resources, preservation of biodiversity, and Illegal Unreported Unregulated (IUU) fishing, promoting startups in Indo-Pacific region and mangrove conservation initiatives in the Pacific States in particular.

The Pacific States are vulnerable to climate change and through an inter-connected and resilient action plan for a sustainable future, the India-France partnership is slowly evolving as a crucial pillar for a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

The panoply of cooperation agreements and declarations stands as testimony to the relationship that was reformatted when the West condemned India for nuclear testing. Mutual respect for strategic independence and their commitment to global security which resonated with their collective interests is the driving force for this “partnership between equals”.

Despite its commonalities with the West, France is falling out with the US over Macron’s renewed call for strategic autonomy. On the contrary, the India-France partnership is shaped by strategic convergences over independent foreign policies, national interests, identities, and security issues.  

The Joint Communique aptly summarizes the same- “ours is a relationship that has been resilient in the darkest storms and bold and ambitious in riding the high ties of opportunities. It is founded on shared values, belief, in sovereignty and strategic autonomy, an unwavering commitment to international law and UN charter, an abiding faith in multilateralism and a common quest for a stable multipolar world”⁴.

France is the second largest defence supplier of India after Russia. With Russia stretching its resources for the Ukraine war, India is exploring avenues to modernise its defence industrial base with France which can decisively boost Comprehensive National Power. In this context, the non-inclusion of the 26 Marine Rafales and three Scorpene submarines in the joint statement has driven speculations.

Putting media conjectures to rest, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra ascertained, “the document looks at security and sovereignty in a more holistic and comprehensive way rather than as a set of individual transactions… “and “the metrics of defence partnership is not defined by a single acquisition or a non-acquisition, single procurement of a single transaction”⁵. Pending commercial negotiations on M Rafales, this deal presumably failed to make it to the final statement.

Modi’s current visit, his fifth to France replete with warmth and bromance full on display which is high on optics is equally rich in substance. Also, there is a very clear understanding and appreciation of each other’s position on the Ukraine issues. In a rare gesture, Macron openly praised Modi at 2022 UNGA session over the “this is not an era of war” remark. Even as Macron’s rejected “decoupling” from Beijing, France’s Indo-Pacific cooperation with India to counter Beijing’s expansionism is firmly in course. Even the discordant EU parliament’s resolution against India on Manipur ahead of Modi’s visit failed to dampen the warmth of the partnership.

Hailing India as “a giant in global history”, Macron acknowledged, the “decisive role” India is set to play in the future⁶. Underlining the significance of 25 years of Strategic Partnership Modi said, “People of India have taken the resolve to make India a developed nation. In this journey, we see France as a natural partner”⁷. Deepening the existing shared interests, the Indo-French partnership of middle powers besides bolstering multipolarity can foster an alternative order. France shares a similar perspective and this was the spirit behind hosting the New Global Financing Pact Summit.

Dwelling on India-French Partnership, PM Modi in his interview with Les Echos said, “It (Partnership) is a strong, trusted, consistent. It has been steady and resilient in the darkest storms. It has been bold and ambitious in looking for opportunities. The level of mutual trust and confidence we share is unmatched. It stems from shared values and vision. We share a strong sense of strategic autonomy. Both have deep commitment to international law. We both seek a multipolar world. Both of us carry and unwavering faith in multilateralism”⁸. Lending a futuristic vision through the roadmap “Horizon 2047”, both countries have set the course. Catapulting the partnership to new heights is firmly rested on the succeeding political leaderships. 

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