India, France sign 14 pacts, set to widen defence, security ties

New Delhi: Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, after which the two countries signed 14 pacts, including one on “reciprocal logistics support between their armed forces” that will provide access for warships of either side to each other’s ports. The pact — to “facilitate the reciprocal provision of logistics support, supplies and services between the armed forces of the two countries during authorised port visits, joint exercises, joint training, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts” — was described by Mr Modi as a “golden step in the history of our close defence cooperation”. He also described France as one of India’s most trusted defence partners, adding that “from land to sky there is no such topic where we are not working together with each other”.

With India already acquiring 36 French Rafale state-of-the-art fighter aircraft and the two countries expressing satisfaction over the progress in the matter, news agencies cited officials as saying that the French side pushed for the procurement of another batch of 36 Rafale fighters by India during a meeting between defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her French counterpart Florence Parly.

Meanwhile, in what is also being seen as a strong move keeping in mind the increasingly assertive role of China in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the two countries issued a Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region to serve as “a guiding beacon for such partnership” and “reiterated that this cooperation will be crucial in order to maintain the safety of international sea lanes for unimpeded commerce and communications in accordance with the international law”. Under the aegis of this, “both countries also decided that in order to widen and deepen strategic naval cooperation, India and France will be open to inviting strategic partner countries in the region to participate in Indo-French exercises”.

The two countries also issued a separate India-France Joint Vision for Space Cooperation to design and develop an “Automatic Identification System (AIS) to monitor and protect the assets in land and sea”. Both sides agreed to “pursue the study of a constellation of satellites for maritime surveillance”, and also “cooperate to protect their respective space based assets, including by infrastructure and information sharing”.

Another pact inked on Saturday would pave the way to take steps towards a “Maritime Awareness Mission” using space cooperation that will “provide end-to-end solution for detection, identification and monitoring of vessels in the regions of interest for France and India”.

Yet another pact—on civil nuclear energy cooperation — was on the “Industrial Way Forward Agreement between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, and EDF, France” for the “implementation of six nuclear power reactor units at Jaitapur in Maharashtra”. Another pact inked was “regarding the exchange and reciprocal protection of classified or protected information” that comes in the backdrop of the Indian government’s recent refusal to divulge various details of the multi-billion dollar Indo-French Rafale fighter aircraft deal.

Mr Modi said: “First, we have very intense and deep defence relations and we consider France as one of our most trusted defence partners... I consider today’s agreement of the reciprocal logistics support between our armies as a golden step in the history of our close defence cooperation.” He added: “Second, both of us believe that in future the Indian Ocean region will play a very important role in the happiness, progress and prosperity of the world. Whether it is the environment, or maritime security, or marine resources, or the freedom of navigation and over flight, we are committed to strengthening our cooperation in all these areas.” He also said: “It is not a mere a coincidence that the echoes of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity — is registered not only in the Constitution of France but also in the Constitution of India.”

The joint statement said: “The two leaders welcomed the signing of the agreement between India and France for the provision of reciprocal logistics support between their armed forces, which seeks to extend logistical support on reciprocal access to respective facilities for Indian and French armed forces. The agreement is symbolic of the strategic depth and maturity reached in India-France defence ties.”

Other agreements include one on “combating illicit traffic and consumption of drugs and will also impact on financing of terrorism”, “temporary circular migration based on mobility and the encouragement for a return of skills to the home country”, “the mutual recognition of educational qualifications”, and “deepening the mutual cooperation and focus on priority areas of high speed and semi-high speed rail, creation of an Indo-French Permanent Railway Forum”.

The joint statement expressing “satisfaction” on the on-schedule progress in the implementation of agreements “including the Rafale aircraft agreement signed in 2016”. The deal attracted controversy after the Opposition raised questions over the pricing. In what is being seen as a veiled reference to the role of Pakistan in state-sponsored terrorism, the two countries reiterated their joint determination to combat terrorism, with the Joint Statement referring to Pakistan-based terror organisations like the JeM and LeT apart from the Pakistan-backed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen in the Kashmir Valley.

On the issue of terror, the joint statement went: “They (PM Modi and President Macron) also called upon all countries to work towards rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and their financing channels, and halting cross-border movement of terrorists like Al Qaeda, Daesh/ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba,  and their affiliates as well as terrorist groups threatening peace and security in South Asia”.

On defence cooperation, the joint statement said: “The two leaders noted with satisfaction the on-schedule progress in the implementation of acquisition related agreements, including the Rafale aircraft agreement signed in 2016. They also noted the commissioning of INS Kalvari, the first Scorpene submarine made in India by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, in collaboration with Naval Group, the French shipbuilder.”

On civil nuclear energy cooperation, the joint statement said, “In pursuance of the 2008 Agreement on the Development of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between India and France as well as the January 2016 roadmap of cooperation, the two leaders noted with satisfaction the conclusion of the Industrial Way Forward Agreement between NPCIL and EDF for the Implementation of six nuclear power reactor units at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. The two leaders reiterated the goal of commencing works at the Jaitapur site around the end of 2018, and encouraged NPCIL and EDF to accelerate the contractual discussions in that respect. Once installed, the Jaitapur project will be the largest nuclear power plant in the world, with a total capacity of 9.6 GW.”

On the broad gamut of Indo-French ties, Mr Modi said: “There are many other dimensions of our relationships. If I mention all of them maybe it will be evening. Railway, urban development, environment, security, space means from land to sky there is no such topic where we are not working together with each other. We also work with close cooperation and coordination on the international platform. India and France have strong relations with African countries. They provide a strong basis for developing another dimension of our cooperation.”

On the cultural component of ties, he added, “While our strategic partnership  may be 20 years old only, the spiritual partnership of our countries and our civilisations is centuries old. From 18th century till now, French thinkers have got an insight into the soul of India through the stories of Panchatantra, Vedas, Upanishads, Epics and great men like Sri Ramkrishna and Sri Aurobindo. Numerous trailblazers like Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Romain Rolland, Rene Daumal, Andre Malraux have found Indian philosophies to be motivating and supplementing their ideas.”