“Trust and partnership” –- the two words French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius love to use to describe the India-France relations have acquired a new resonance, with Paris pledging 1 billion euro for bolstering India’s urban development and sustainable development projects. The comfort level in bilateral relations has also been reflected in the French minister’s optimism about the closure of the $20 billion deal for the Rafale combat aircraft in the not-too-distant future.
The inking of the deal, for which negotiations relating to price and technology have dragged on for years, could well be the showpiece deliverable during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris. The French minister has extended an invitation from President Francois Hollande to Mr Modi to visit Paris, possibly in September either on his way to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, or while returning home. The invitation has been accepted by the Indian side, but there is no clarity on the dates yet.
Mr Fabius is the first minister from a European country to visit India since the Narendra Modi government took charge over a month ago, and signals Paris’ keenness to impart a fresh momentum to bilateral ties with the new dispensation in Delhi.
Rafale deal: Confidence and optimism
The French minister discussed a wide array of issues with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj that included civil nuclear cooperation, defence deals, intensification of economic ties and developmental cooperation. After the talks, the tall, dapper minister said he was “very confident” of the sealing of the Rafale deal. The “developments were very positive,” said Mr Fabius, adding that he was “very confident of the final outcome.” The Rafale deal figured also prominently in discussions with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley. “It is fair that for complex matters it takes some time, but there is a difference between some time and too long,” Fabius said.
1 billion euro boost
In an important move, Paris sought to play a bigger role in sustainable development in India by pledging 1 billion euro in lines of credit for a host of urban infrastructure and sustainable development projects in India. The credit line would be channelized through the French Development Agency over three years.
Nuclear Deal
In an important statement suggesting a faster movement on civil nuclear cooperation, the minister said that France had “no particular concerns” about India’s civil nuclear liability law that imposes stiff compensation in case of a nuclear accident. France, a key member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and a robust backer of Delhi’s global nuclear entente, underlined its commitment to go ahead with the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant. Four years ago, India’s state-run Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd had inked a pact with French nuclear giant Areva Areva SA to buy two European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) each with a capacity to produce 1,650MW of electricity and uranium supply for a period of 25 years at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. France plans to build six such units in Jaitapur by 2018. “Both sides reiterated their commitment to proceed with the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant. They also agreed that it is best for the experts to deal with the techno-commercial aspects of this major project which both India and France are committed as a long term project between the two countries,” Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry, said after the talks.
Trade and Tourism: Chalo Paris
Conjuring up a robust picture of India-France relations, the minister made a strong pitch for raising ambition in the area of bilateral trade. The $18 billion bilateral trade remains much below the potential, the minister added.
Tourism could be a way to scale up economic engagement as well as people-to-people contacts, the underperforming areas in an otherwise robust diplomatic relationship. Announcing the easing of the visa regime, which could kick off in January 2015, the minister unveiled a new mobile app called “Chalo Paris,” which is designed to pitch Paris high on the Indian tourists’ radar screen. The app is user-friendly, and is conceived to make life easier for Indians travelling to Paris, who find the delicate cadences of the French language a little difficult to unscramble. Diehard vegetarians need not worry about getting the right food as the app guides them to veg restaurants in Paris and in the rest of France. This way, the Indo-French relations are going to get more appetising and profitable in the days to come.
Author Profile
- Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.
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