The visit of French President François Hollande to India last week as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations managed to underscore once again the close ties which the two nations share. France has been India’s strategic partner for decades now and has been invaluable to furthering New Delhi’s interests in the realm of defence and high technology. During the recent visit too, the two sides concluded deals worth an estimated $15 billion in areas of nuclear energy, space cooperation, including the launch of satellite for climate research, renewable energy and global solar energy as well as a declaration that the French companies will be investing $10 billion in India over the next five years.
The Modi government has given France a renewed focus since coming to office. Modi had visited France in April last year, where his pragmatic instincts were unleashed as he tried to move forward on projects that have been stuck for a long time. The Rafale fighter jet deal has been in limbo since 2012 over terms of procedures and pricing negotiations, even as the Indian Air Force has been worried about meeting its “critical operational necessity”. Modi managed to break the deadlock with his out-of-the-box approach when he signed a government-to-government deal with France for the supply of 36 Rafale fighter jets in “fly-away” condition “as quickly as possible”. Though this goes against his Make in India pitch, the PM understood the urgency of the IAF demands. In some ways, this was compensated by the support Modi’s Make in India campaign received from Airbus, which declared that the company was “ready to manufacture in India, for India and the world”. The Airbus group is likely to increase its sourcing of aerospace parts from Indian companies to $2 billion in the next five years. India and France also signed deals aimed at early operationalisation of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement. The Jaitapur project, a proposed 9900-MW nuclear power project to be designed by Areva of France, has been stuck because of differences over the cost of electricity generation.
During Hollande’s visit to India last week, the two nations couldn’t close the Rafale deal as both sides were unable to agree on the financial aspects of the pact. But the two leaders oversaw the signing of a preliminary pact on Rafale with an expectation that the financial issues will be resolved over the next four weeks. Nuclear energy was another focus area where the two sides agreed they will collaborate in constructing six nuclear power reactors at Jaitapur instead of six.
India’s rising global profile is reshaping New Delhi’s approach to its major partnerships in the changing global order. Though it may not be quick to drop its attachment to non-alignment in theory, New Delhi is showing signs of pursuing strategic autonomy separately from non-alignment under PM Modi. This separation is overdue in India’s foreign policy. Under the Modi government, India is charting new territory in its foreign policy, predicated on the belief that rather than proclaiming non-alignment as an end in itself, India needs deeper engagement with its friends and partners if it is to develop leverage in its dealings with adversaries and competitors. The Western world is likely to play an important role in this regard.
At a time when the West is struggling economically and is jittery about China’s growing global heft, strong ties with India are now a cornerstone of the foreign policies of the Big Five and support for strong bilateral ties with India cuts across party political divide. India and the West will not always agree, but it is a sign of mature partnerships when partners can gracefully agree to disagree. Today, India is well positioned to define its bilateral partnerships on its own terms and would do well to continue engaging more closely with nations that can facilitate its rise in regional and global prominence. This seems to the mantra of the Modi government. Delhi’s outreach to Paris is an example of this attempt.
harsh.pant@kcl.ac.uk
Pant is a professor in international relations, King’s College, London