At the Bastille Day military parade, Dr Manmohan Singh and Nicolas Sarkozy presented an optimistic picture, indicative of a growing friendship between the two nations, even as Indian troops for the first time promenaded down the Champs Elysees avenue

July 14 saw a contingent comprising more than 400 Indian troops drawn from the army, navy and air force march down from the Arc de Triomphe monument during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy witnessed the event in an atmosphere charged with goodwill and mutual warmth, indicative of a growing friendship between two important nations of the unipolar world. “India is one of the greatest democracies of the world,” Sarkozy later said, introducing Chief Guest Manmohan Singh to the thousands who had congregated at Elysee Palace for the National Day reception. “India is a major power of the 21st century and India’s involvement is essential in all major global matters.”

Flying to Paris in the shadow of curbs imposed by G-8 nations hindering full nuclear cooperation, the Prime Minister had hoped his visit would help India and France “build” its strategic partnership in atomic energy, defence and other areas. “India and France enjoy a close and wide ranging strategic partnership. Our relations with France encompass a large number of areas and have served our national interests well,” Dr Singh said.

Nuclear Deal
In recent times, France has been actively supporting India in a number of ways. On May 22, France’s Deputy Ambassador Jean-Pierre Lacroix told a committee negotiating the reform of the current 15-nation council that his country was supportive of Germany, Japan, India and Brazil as new permanent members on the council.

Defence & Space
“India and France enjoy a close and wide ranging strategic partnership. Our relations with France encompass a large number of areas, and have served our national interests well,” Singh said. France is a major source of weapons supply to India and French conglomerates are competing for multi-billion dollar defence deals for the sale of helicopters, fighter-bombers, radars and other advanced systems. These include Dassault Aviation, Snecma, Thales and others.

Meanwhile, India has signed a multi-billion dollar deal with French companies for the purchase of six Scorpene submarines. To be built at the state-owned Mazagon dockyard in Mumbai, with technical assistance and equipment from French companies DCN and Thales, the submarines are scheduled to be delivered between 2012 and 2017. India and France are also working towards closing a deal to upgrade a fleet of 51 Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft at an approximate cost of $1.9 billion (Rs 9,167 crore) owned by the Indian Air Force.

Recently, four agreements were signed for protection of classified defence information, transfer of prisoners, cooperation between India’s Department of Atomic Energy and its French counterpart on developing the Jules Horowitz nuclear reactors, and establishment of the French development agency, Agence Française de Développement. An MoU on the establishment in India of an international laboratory in the field of neurosciences was also inked. For the first time ever, the Indian Navy sent a big fleet of four vessels as far out as the Atlantic Ocean for Varuna, the Indo-French naval exercise that is carried out every year for the last seven years. This year, apart from aiming at conventional and anti-submarine warfare, these exercises also focused on training for anti-piracy and anti-terrorism operations.

With defence and nuclear collaborations, space ties between India and France could not be far behind. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch the Megha Tropiques—a weather satellite co-developed with French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales. The mission of the satellite is to study tropical weather patterns and contribute to the study of cyclones, monsoons, and other climate and weather related phenomenon.

Fresh Impetus
Bilateral cooperation between India and France will receive a boost this December when France unveils a 10-city mega festival, titled “Bonjour India: Celebrating France in India”—a festival of exhibitions, concerts, literature, cinema, debates, conferences, food festivals and economic and scientific exchanges, are planned.