Context:  

This article is based on the news “India-France defence ties take a bigger leap” which was published in the Hindu. The French President Emmanuel Macron attended the 2024 Republic Day as the chief guest.

French President Emmanuel Macron as a Republic Day Chief Guest: Key Highlights

• 6th Invitation for Republic Day: France accepted India’s Republic Day invitation and this was Mr. Macron’s third visit to India, and the sixth time a French President has been invited to Republic Day, the maximum number for any country.
  • U.S. President Joe Biden was earlier invited to attend Republic Day as the chief guest, but he expressed his inability to come to India for Republic Day and the Quad Summit. 
• Roadshow in Jaipur: Prime Minister Modi and French President Macron held a roadshow in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
  • Visit started with a tour of Amber Fort in Jaipur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • PM Modi met President Macron at Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar UNESCO World Heritage Site, the solar observatory built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh in the 18th century.
  • The two leaders then moved to the Hawa Mahal. 

French President Visit to India: Key Outcomes

• India France Relations Defence Relations: 

  • Roadmap for India-France defence industrial partnership. 
  • Letter of intent between the Ministry of Defence, Government of India and the Ministry for the armed forces of France on defence space partnership. 
• Space: Memorandum of understanding (MoU) between NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and Arianespace SAS, France. 
• Civil Aviation: Memorandum of agreement between TATA Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus to set up an assembly line for H125 helicopters in India.
• Science and Technology: 
  • Framework cooperation arrangement between department of science and technology (DST), government of India and INRAE, France. 
  • Framework arrangement on cooperation concerning funding of research projects between the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), France.

Key Announcements Made to Strengthening India France Relations

• Declaring 2026 as India-France Year of Innovation.
• Operationalisation of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) at Eiffel Tower.
• Setting up of a Solar Academy in Senegal under the STAR-C programme of International Solar Alliance.
• Establishment of India’s Consulate in Marseille and French Bureau de France in Hyderabad.
• Operationalisation of Young Professional Scheme under the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement.
• Operationalisation of 5-year validity Schengen Visa for Indian Masters alumni of French institutions.
• Support to France for United Nations Ocean Conference to be organised in Nice in 2025

Background of India France Relations

• Diplomatic and Strategic India France Relations: The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1947, and the partnership was upgraded to the strategic level in 1998.
• Pillars of Cooperation: Cooperation in the areas of defence & security, space and civil nuclear matters constitute the principal pillars of the Strategic Partnership. 
• New Areas of Cooperation: India and France are increasingly engaged in new areas of cooperation in bilateral, trilateral and plurilateral formats such as maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region, digitalisation, cyber security and advanced computing, counter-terrorism, climate change, renewables and sustainable growth and development among others.

• France’s Support to India: 

  • France has continued to support India’s claim for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the reforms of the United Nations. France supported India’s joining of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) as an observer country.
  • 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’s Support to France: India played a key role in France’s membership of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). 
• Horizon 2047– “25th Anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between France and India, towards a Century of Indo-French Relations”: 
  • Horizon 2047 sets the course for the India France  relationship in all areas till 2047. 
  • This year will mark 100 years of India’s Independence, 100 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries, and 50 years of the Indo-French strategic partnership. 

Significance of India France Relations

• Economic Ties: Bilateral trade in goods between India and France remained steady at $11-13 bn. range in the last 5 years.
  • Total trade in goods for FY 2022-23 has breached the $13 bn. trademark for the first time, with exports from India crossing $7 bn. 
  • Trade in Services: According to the French Central Bank, the Indian exports of services to France from January to December 2022 registered an increase from € 2.37 billion to € 2.93 billion in 1 year. 
    • The Indian imports of services from France have recorded a decrease from € 3.90 billion in 2021 to € 3.68 billion in 2022. 
• Defence Partnership: The defence industrial roadmap with France prioritises co-designing, co-development, co-production of military systems with France’s. 
  • France is willing to transfer jet engine technology that only a handful of countries possess. 
  • Mega defence deal included 26 Rafale-M fighter jets for the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers, and three additional Scorpene-class conventional submarines.
• Security Ties: India and France are deepening their cooperation on internal security and the fight against transnational organised crime, including human trafficking, financial crime and environmental crime. 
  • Indo-Pacific Region: Both countries adopted a roadmap for joint actions in the region, covering all aspects of our comprehensive strategy for the  Indo-Pacific region. 
  • Counter-Terrorism: Both countries welcomed the work towards the formalisation of cooperation between the National Security Guard (NSG) of India and the Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale (GIGN) of France for Cooperation in the field of Counterterrorism.
• Partnership in Space Technology: Scientific and commercial partnership is being enhanced between France’s CNES and India’s ISRO, focusing on reusable launchers and Earth observation satellite TRISHNA.
  • The two sides signed a new agreement for a defence-space partnership that will see them collaborate on “space situational awareness”, and an MoU on coordinating on satellite launches.
• Civil Nuclear Energy: Both sides welcomed progress on the 6- European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) power plant project in Jaitapur. They decided to launch a cooperation programme on small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors. 
• Blue Economy: Launch of a partnership between IFREMER (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) and India’s National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) on ocean research, under the roadmap on Blue Economy and Ocean Governance adopted by France and India in 2022.
• Civil Aviation: Signing of technical and safety agreements in the field of civil aviation, towards supporting the expansion of routes between France and India, and the growth of the Indian civil aviation market. 
  • Further, recently, a joint venture for the local manufacture of civilian helicopters was agreed between Airbus and TATA.
• Culture: Cultural exchanges between France and India have always been very intense with a bilateral cultural dialogue established in the 1980. 
  • For instance, recently a partnership between France and India for the establishment of a major new National Museum in New Delhi was announced. 
  • Further, Thiruvalluvar statue was recently inaugurated in Cergy, France.

Major Challenges Associated With India France Relations

• Differences in Geopolitical Approaches: There have been several differences being noted in the diplomatic approaches of India and France on global issues like Ukraine- Russia conflict, growing Chinese concern, etc. 
  • For instance, France has become the first country to join China to jointly build seven infrastructure projects worth over USD 1.7 billion in Africa, South East Asia and Eastern Europe. The French move to join China is not in line with India, who refused to support China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
• Stalled Projects: The two sides did not report any breakthrough on the civil nuclear cooperation agreement to build reactors at Jaitapur that was first signed in 2009 due to the technical and engineering elements.  
• Protests over French Journalist Issue: Recently, around 30 foreign correspondents based in India issued a letter of protest over a case where Indian authorities issued a notice to a French journalist based in New Delhi, for violating certain regulations. 
• Lack of Free Trade Agreement: The negotiations for the ambitious free-trade agreement (FTA) were suspended in 2013 after several rounds of talks spanning six years. 
  • However, in 2022, India and the European Union (EU) restarted the negotiations for the long-pending trade and investment agreement, but it is still not finalised. 

Way Forward to the India France Relations

• Ensure Timely Project Completion: There is a need to ensure timely completion of these projects. 
  • For instance, India and France are trying to move forward on elements related to putting in place a financing mechanism and localisation component for the 9,900 MWe Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district.
• Free Trade Agreement (FTA): There have been issues related to India-EU FTA where issues are related to market access. To resolve this issue, India and the EU have resumed negotiations for a FTA.
• Collaboration on Global Challenges: Amid rising geopolitical uncertainties, India and France intend to work together in the interest of international peace and stability and reaffirm their commitment to a rules-based order.
• Ensuring Bilateral Support: Both countries share strong historical ties and have many instances showing bilateral support, showcasing the need to continue this support. 
  • Recently, the Indian PM thanked the French President for France’s continued support to India’s Presidency of G-20. 
  • For instance, the French President assured that France will back India towards hosting the 2036 Olympic Games.