INDIA FRANCE COOPERATION
- January 26, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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INDIA FRANCE COOPERATION
Subject: IR
Section: India relations with major power
Context:
- French President Emmanuel Macron is the chief guest at Republic Day 2024 celebrations.
More on news:
- This will be the sixth time that a French leader will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations.
- In December 2023, when India invited French President Emmanuel Macron for Republic Day after US President Joe Biden was unavailable.
- Macron accepted despite knowing he was the second choice, showing the comfort between the French and the Indian system.
- Chirac, an admirer of India who had studied Sanskrit, saw India as a major emerging power and pushed for boosting political and economic cooperation.
- This is Macron’s third visit to India as the French President and these visits will have the chance to elevate our relationships further.
- The comprehensive Roadmap between India and France, which was adopted last year in July during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit as Guest of Honour for Bastille Day, was classified under three pillars ie
- Partnership for Security and Sovereignty;
- Partnership for the Planet; and
- Partnership for People.
Various partnerships:
25th anniversary of strategic partnership:
- Macron’s visit caps a milestone year for India-France ties i.e. the 25th anniversary of their strategic partnership.
- The India-France Strategic Partnership was the first that India signed with any western country.
- This partnership has seen considerable progress in bilateral, regional and international contexts. The partnership draws strength, trust and consistency from a shared sense of strategic autonomy and sovereignty, a quest for a multi-polar world, and a natural affinity for democratic values and rule of law.
- Defense and security, civil nuclear matters, and space constitute principal pillars of this partnership.
- It now includes a strong Indo-Pacific component.
Major pillars of cooperation
Defense:
- India and France have had a strong and robust defense partnership.
- Bilateral defense cooperation between the two sides is reviewed under Annual Defence Dialogue (Defence Minister level) and High Committee on Defence Cooperation (Secretary level).
- A DRDO office was opened in the Embassy in 2023 for strengthening technology cooperation.
- The procurement of Rafale jets as part of India’s air power is a testament to the deep defense ties. The
- India France joint defense exercises have also grown in scope and complexity over the years.
Space:
- There’s a rich history of cooperation in the field of space for over 50 years between ISRO and the French Space Agency, Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales (CNES).
- France remains a major supplier of components and equipment for the Indian space programme.
Civil Nuclear Cooperation:
- During the PM’s visit to Paris in July 2023, both leaders welcomed the progress made during discussions related to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP).
- However, the progress here has been slow, though the first pact was agreed in 2008.
- The two sides have also agreed to establish a partnership on Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMR).
Economic:
- France is one of the largest investors in India with FDI inflow of US$ 659.77 million for FY 2022-23 (as of June 2023) and a cumulative FDI stock of $10.76 billion from April 2000 to September 2023.
- There are over 70 Indian companies employing over 8,000 employees in France.
- For FY 2023-24 (till August 2023), Indian exports to France totaled $3.06 billion and imports from France totaled $2.36 billion.
- India’s main exports include engineering goods, petroleum products, pharmaceutical products, electronic equipment and ready-made garments.
- The main imports from France are aviation products, machine equipment, electrical equipment and chemical products.
Digital:
- Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was launched from the Eiffel Tower to offer secure and convenient transactions for Indian visitors and NRIs.
- C-DAC and M/S Atos, an European multinational IT service and consulting company based in France have developed 14 supercomputers for India which also included the fastest supercomputer Param Siddhi at 4.6 petaflops/second.
Education:
- It is estimated that there are about 10,000 Indian students in France. An agreement on mutual recognition of degrees was signed in 2018.
- The Indo French Campus for Health was also launched in June 2022 to offer double degrees.
- During Modi’s visit, France announced the issuing of a five-year Schengen visa to Indian alumni who have completed at least one semester of their Master’s degree in France, a first for alumni from any country.
Community in France:
- Mainland France has an estimated 1,19,000 Indian community (including NRIs) members, largely originating from erstwhile French colonies of Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanam, Mahe and Chandernagore and the States of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Punjab.
Tourism:
- About 2.5 lakh French traveled to India in 2019 while about 7 lakh Indians went to France for tourism.
Rajasthan continues to lead among all Indian destinations for French tourists. Foreign tourist arrivals into Rajasthan are growing at a double digit since 2016.
Support on international fora
- France has continued to support India’s claim for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council and the reforms of the United Nations.
- France’s support was vital in India’s accession to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) and Australia Group (AG).
- France continues to support India’s bid for accession to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
- India and France have resolved to work together for adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in the UN.
Other areas of discussion:
- The current visit will give Modi and Macron an opportunity to exchange notes on issues of mutual interest such as the
- Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas war,
- China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, and
- defense and security cooperation.