As PM Modi embarked on important and back-to-back visits to France and the US, IW interviewed Arun K Singh, who served as India’s former Ambassador to both countries (as well as Israel), to gauge the importance of the India-France strategic partnership in a turbulent world and what New Delhi’s approach to the new White House should be.
Ankit Tiwari: How would you assess India’s relationship with France today?
Amb. Arun K Singh: France has long been a critical partnership for India and is even more so today as we find the global situation in somewhat of a flux.
In 1998, France was the first country with which India declared a strategic partnership. That year, we had conducted nuclear tests, and among the P5 countries, France was the only member that did not criticise India and, of course, opposed sanctions. Since then, step by step, we have consolidated our partnership with France.
I would say that France is our most important partner in Western Europe in the strategic sense if you look at the important areas of cooperation: civil nuclear energy, defence, or space. In each of these areas, it is France which has strength within Europe. It’s the only country where more than 50% of energy is generated by nuclear power. The European space program is headquartered there.
At the same time, from India’s national security perspective, France does not supply military equipment to Pakistan. Nor does it supply military equipment to China.
Even politically, in August 2019, when India abrogated Article 370 (Jammu and Kashmir), China tried to move the UN Security Council against India. It was France, at the time, supported by the US, that blocked the Chinese move. So, there is a certain level of political confidence in the relationship, which has resulted in French political support for India from time to time.
Finally, I’d say today, when the US is redefining its role domestically, as well as its role in the global context, we will need hedging partners. France and Russia would be among them.
AT: From time to time, France has had its own independent impulse to distance itself strategically from the US and has long supported a multipolar world order. This has served as a sort of ideological convergence point for India and France. In this context, do you think Washington’s recent actions, like Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on the EU, can strengthen India’s ties with France?
