India-France relations get a
boost
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit to France was a great moment for both the countries. India-France
relations represent the cultural
affinity and historic relations between two vibrant democracies. But although
more than a thousand French companies have a total investment of about $20
billion in India, bilateral trade is worth just $8 billion. This deserves attention,
Prime Minister put
the spotlight back on defence ties by making a surprise announcement on the
purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft as the highlight of his talks with President
François Hollande. However, his
critics say that the deal detracts
from Modi’s “Make in India” initiative. According to them, to claim that HAL
cannot manufacture Rafale is hilarious and that we as a country can
successfully launch rockets to mars can very well manufacture in India. ISRO is
highly efficient organization, they add.
But 'Make in
India' is useless if we can't 'Defend India'. The IAF squadrons are down and
may even lose its superiority in the immediate neighbourhood in the near future
if concrete and immediate steps are not taken. Transfer of technology and
capacity building takes a lot of time. No wonder the PM asked for the jets as
quickly as possible. The fact is that most of the strategic analysts are
praising the deal.
"Make in
India" must not be pursued as a dogma, particularly for technologies and
products where "making in India" will result in sub-standard products
or the infra-structure cannot sustain production. The pilots who will fly the
Rafales would be heaving a sigh of relief that the aircraft were made in France
and not by the government run, yet-to-develop and bureaucratic HAL.
Anyway, Prime
Minister Modi's first visit to Paris has been a grand success both in terms of
trade and investment as well bilateral relations in other matters. Like Japan,
India has much in common with the French and Modi has rightly stressed on that
aspect and desired further strengthening of these ties for a long lasting
friendship between the two countries. Since France is a world power and has
been playing important role in world affairs, good relations with it may be to
India's advantage in achieving its ambitions of a suitable role for itself both
at the UN as also in world affairs. Besides, India also stands to benefit from
the advances made by France in various areas of Science and Technology. With
France and Germany on its side, India will also have a greater say in other
European markets. Narendra Modi has proved himself a great diplomat within a
short span of nine months contrary to expectations.
The India-France
ties are very broad-based and have been so for decades now, encompassing
everything from space science to art & culture. The breadth and depth of
this relationship has been emphasized once again by this visit where agreements
have been signed on cooperation in space, railways, nuclear energy, student
exchange, French investments in India etc. Of course, the Rafale deal was
expected to occupy a prime space because it is a big ticket item that has been
languishing for three years now and needed a push from the very top and that
has happened. Besides, what is wrong if spotlight falls on defence ties? Is
defence an abominable thing to be discussed? On the impact on 'Make in India',
one fails to understand how purchase of an extra squadron off-the-shelf affects
that.
Anyway, were we to
carefully analyze Modi’s visits to France, Germany and Canada, they have proved
be beneficial for India.
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