Guest of honor for the July 14 National Day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Paris on Thursday for two days, an opportunity for Emmanuel Macron to consolidate the strategic relationship with the Asian giant, which announced that it was considering a large command of Rafale and submarines. “I am delighted to be able to strengthen cooperation between India and France during this visit”, tweeted the Prime Minister after being welcomed on a red carpet when he got off the plane at midday by the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. He is due to speak to the Indian community in France on Thursday evening, and will attend the military parade on Friday in which a strong Indian contingent, including three Rafales, will participate.
Strategic partner for 25 years
India, which has already ordered 36 of these planes for its Air Force, announced Thursday that it also wanted to acquire 26 Rafales in their Navy version to equip its aircraft carrier, as well as three submarines. Scorpene. A huge potential contract, which would further consolidate the robust strategic partnership that has linked the two countries for 25 years. France is the first Western country with which India has established such a partnership, recalled Narendra Modi in an interview with the newspaper The echoes.
The two countries also have a certain convergence of views on international relations. Paris wants to be a power of balance, multiplying the channels of dialogue and wishing to be a bridge between the Western bloc and the rest of the world. “We have the same desire for strategic autonomy. Our two countries are deeply committed to international law and we want the world to be multipolar,” Narendra Modi told Les Echos, saying India saw France as “one of (its) main global partners”.
New Delhi, the Asian giant on the front line in the face of China’s rise to power, is for its part a follower of multi-alignment, continuing for example to cooperate with Russia, which has been ostracized by the West since the invasion of Iran. Ukraine.
Dinner at the Louvre on Friday
As the Élysée pointed out this week, “India is one of the pillars of our Indo-Pacific strategy”, this vast area covering the Indian and Pacific oceans, the scene of growing international tensions between Beijing and Washington and where France has overseas interests and territories. After speaking to the diaspora, Narendra Modi will have a private dinner with Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace and on Friday, besides the parade, he will have various appointments before the official dinner in the prestigious Louvre Museum with more than 200 guests. . A joint press statement is also planned.
“Security cooperation, space, civil nuclear, technology, anti-terrorism, cybersecurity, climate change, renewable energies … will be on the menu of the two leaders’ discussions,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwarta said on Wednesday. At the same time the world’s largest demographic power, economic giant, major emitter of greenhouse gases and nuclear power, India is an unavoidable heavyweight, increasingly courted. A few weeks ago, Narendra Modi had the rare honors of a state visit to Washington. “India has seen its influence increase significantly in recent years,” notes researcher Fawa Aamer, of ASPI, who recalls that she currently holds the presidency of the G20.
Human rights
If France has succeeded in forging a privileged link with it, it is also because it “rarely comments on Indian internal affairs”, considers Constantino Xavier, of the CSEP think tank. “It is appreciated in India.” The government is however in the crosshairs of several NGOs and international institutions. Narendra Modi “with his Hindu nationalist government, has continued to undermine human rights and democracy”, denounce the signatories of a column published last week by the communist newspaper l’Humanité.
A few dozen demonstrators, including two deputies from the radical left, gathered in Paris on Thursday to denounce this visit. “No red carpet for an enemy of human rights” proclaimed a banner. In Strasbourg (East), the European Parliament demanded Thursday in a non-binding resolution that human rights be integrated “in all areas” covered by the partnership between the EU and India.