Context:

The Indian Prime Minister was on a state visit to France as the chief guest at the Bastille Day celebrations coinciding with the silver jubilee of the India-France strategic partnership. 

• Indian Prime Minister was conferred with the ‘Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour’, France’s highest civilian honor, the first for an Indian Prime Minister.

Areas of Cooperation: 

Defence Partners: 

• France has become a significant defense partner for India, being its second-largest defense supplier between 2017 and 2021. 
  • Example: This partnership includes the induction of French Scorpene submarines, Rafale fighter jets, and the manufacture of Airbus C-295 transport aircraft in Gujarat. 
• Joint Exercises:  The two countries hold regular military dialogues and joint exercises named Varuna (naval exercise), Garuda (air force exercise), and Shakti (army exercise), strengthening the defense ties further. 
• Building Sovereign Defense Capabilities Together:
  • France is one of India’s key partners in the development of a self-reliant defense industrial and technological base. 
  • India and France are committed to cooperating in the co-development and co-production of advanced defense technologies, including for the benefit of third countries.
  • Both countries are also working towards adopting a Roadmap on Defence Industrial Cooperation.
  • India is also setting up a Technical Office of the DRDO at its Embassy in Paris.

Maritime Cooperation:

• France and India are working together to maintain security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, conducting joint patrolling and forming a trilateral grouping with the United Arab Emirates. 
  • Example: The “Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region” provides a blueprint for further cooperation in this regard.

Climate Change Cooperation:

• India and France have a shared commitment to mitigating the impact of climate change as reflected in their support for the Paris Agreement. 
  • Example: In 2015, both countries co-founded the International Solar Alliance to promote solar energy. Both countries recently signed a Road Map on Green Hydrogen, aiming to establish a reliable and sustainable value chain for decarbonised hydrogen. 
• Biodiversity loss: India and France recognize the importance of the goals and targets, which are global in nature, of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and of their effective implementation.
• India and France continue to implement the Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership (I3P). 
• They also welcome the adoption of the Treaty on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) to address, in a coherent and cooperative manner, biological diversity loss and degradation of ecosystems of the ocean.

Space Cooperation:

• India and France have continued to strengthen their cooperation in the field of space in recent years. 
  • Example: In 2020, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) established a Joint Working Group to strengthen their cooperation in the field of space.
• Joint Mars Mission: In 2020, both announced plans to collaborate on a joint Mars mission in the near future.
• Scientific and Commercial Partnership:
  • CNES and ISRO will strengthen their partnership mainly around two structuring axes: climate and environment, with the development of the TRISHNA mission and activities within the Space Climate Observatory (SCO) on topics such as water resource management, marine resources and air quality monitoring.
    • TRISHNA is a future high-resolution space-time mission in the thermal infrared (TIR) led jointly by the French (CNES) and the Indian (ISRO) space agencies for a launch planned in 2025.
  • Space Exploration (Mars, Venus), maritime monitoring, launchers and manned flights in connection with India’s Gaganyaan programme. 
  • NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and Arianespace also plan to collaborate in commercial launch services.
• Resilience of Access to Space: Both are working to boost the resilience of access to space with involvement of their space industries.
• Collaboration on Space Debris: Both have also been working together on addressing the issue of space debris.

Economic Cooperation:

• France has emerged as a key trading partner of India with annual trade of USD 12.42 billion in 2021-22.
• It is the 11th largest foreign investor in India with a cumulative investment of USD 10.31 billion from April 2000 to June 2022, representing 1.70% of the total foreign direct investment inflows into India.

Civil Nuclear Cooperation:

• France was among the first countries with which India signed a civil nuclear deal and played a critical role after the 1998 nuclear tests by providing support to India.

Cooperation against Terrorism: 

• Both have always stood together with each other in the fight against terrorism. 
• Both would include operational cooperation, multilateral action, countering online radicalisation and combating financing of terrorism.
  • Example: No Money for Terror (NMFT) initiative and the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremism Content Online.
• Both are working towards the formalization of cooperation between the National Security Guard (NSG) of India and the Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale (GIGN) of France through the Letter of Intent between India and France for Cooperation in the field of Counterterrorism.

Promoting a Renewed and Effective Multilateralism:

• India and France are committed to reforming global governance to reflect contemporary new realities.
• Both promote the reform of the Security Council to enlarge membership in its two categories. 
• They support the credentials of the G4 and therefore those of India, to join the Security Council as new permanent members and support better representation from Africa.
  • The G4 is a group of four countries- Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, which was formed in 2005 with an aspiration to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Critical Technologies:

• Both are cooperating on advanced digital technologies, particularly in the fields of supercomputing, cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence and quantum technologies, including in the framework of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPIA). 

Health Cooperation: 

• Indo-French Campus for Health in an innovative form mobilizing several universities in mainland France and La Reunion Island to partner with Indian institutions. 
• The MoU between the Institut Pasteur and the Indian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) signed in January 2022 for the establishment of a Pasteur Centre in Hyderabad.

Cyber Cooperation: 

• Both countries agreed to work closely with each other to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of ICTs for criminal purposes under the aegis of the UN framework.

Cooperation on Digital Technologies: 

• Both the countries commit to further deepening their cooperation in areas like digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, Start up, AI, supercomputing, 5G/6G telecom and digital skills development.
• Recently, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and France’s Lyra Collect executed an agreement to implement Unified Payment Interface (UPI) in France and Europe.
  • The payment mechanism is in its last phase of production and will go live by September, 2023 with Paris as the first merchant in France to accept UPI.

Partnership for the People:

• The Partnership Agreement on Migration and Mobility: It came into force in 2021, and is an important step in realizing our shared commitment towards enhancing the mobility of students, graduates, academics, researchers, professionals and skilled workers. 
• India and France, on a reciprocal basis, will grant visa exemption for short stays for official passport holders and assess the effectiveness of this exemption in 2026. 
• Both are committed to strengthen their academic ties and to foster exchanges of students. 
  • France reaffirms its ambition to welcome 20,000 Indian students by 2025 and raise this ambition to 30,000 in 2030. 

Challenges in Relations:

• Trade Imbalances: France is exporting more to India than importing, resulting in negative trade for India.
• Absence of Free Trade Agreement (FTA): Despite having good relations, both don’t have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between them.
• Defense and Security Cooperation: Despite a strong defense partnership, both have different priorities and approaches towards defense and security cooperation.
  • India’s focus on its neighborhood and its non-aligned policy can sometimes clash with France’s global interests.
• Intellectual Property Rights: India has been criticized by France for not adequately protecting intellectual property rights, which has affected French businesses operating in India.
• China’s Factor: China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indian Ocean region has become a source of concern for both India and France. 

Way Forward:

• Increased Trade and Investment: Both countries can work towards increasing bilateral trade and investment by setting up joint ventures, expanding trade agreements, and promoting cross-border investment.
• Defense Cooperation: India and France can further strengthen their cooperation in areas like joint military exercises, defense technology transfers, and collaboration in defense production.
  • India has been looking for a more powerful engine to power the fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) under development.
• Climate Change and Energy: Both are working together in this direction and can further collaborate on clean energy research and development, promoting the use of renewable energy, and reducing carbon emissions.
• Scientific and Technological Cooperation: Both countries need to enhance the competitiveness of their economies and create new opportunities for growth.

News Source: The Print