Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'France is India’s good friend' that was published in Newsband

France is India’s good friend

France President François Hollande wrapped up his three-day visit to India. France was India’s first strategic partner. Also France and India have close ties on counterterrorism. These have been given a boost by the agreement on intelligence-sharing and cooperation on investigations and judicial processes. Also France was the first to re-start nuclear talks with India, and among the first to push nuclear trade with India. France began to supply India aircraft (‘Toofani’, or Dassault Ouragan fighters) as early as in 1953, and has been a consistent supplier since. And over the years, the French space agency CNES and the Indian Space Research Organisation have collaborated closely.

The smartness of India lies in maintaining friendly relations with every possible supreme powers of the world. By collaborating and working closely with the developed nations India can soon become a epitome of prosperity, peace and progress. India has been depending on Russia of military supply, US for defense partnership, China for trade and France for strategic partnership.

More than a thousand French companies operate in India. A good number of Indian students study in France. Lot of Indian institutions have student exchange programs with the French universities.

France is very different from all other 'Western' nations in that its slogan of 'liberty, equality & fraternity' is reflected quite well in its bilateral relationships as well, especially with India. It has never taken extreme positions or used shrill tones in its dealings with India. On the other hand, it has truly been an equal & genuine partner. The development of the Viking engine for the French agency (though it was a European effort), in which India contributed men and material, also led to the successful Vikas engine for our PSLV & GSLV projects. In launch services too, ISRO and Ariane have had a long, fruitful and beneficial collaboration. That India felt confident to send Indian Navy's strategic GSAT-7 (Rukmini) satellite atop Ariane shows the level of trust between the two countries. Satellites such as Megha-Tropiques & SARAL speak further about the close cooperation. In the political front too, France has consistently supported India's membership in UNSC, NSG, WA, AG, MTCR etc.

Francois Hollande and Narendra Modi will enter into agreements on developing Pondicherry and Nagpur as smart cities with Indo-French cooperation and exchange of expertise in various fields. Hollande’s visit and all the signed agreements will further strengthen the already close relationship between France and India. But one should not forget that France has enormous economic problems and a high unemployment rate and hence France needs India as much as India needs France to work together and create harmony and peace for their people.

India wishes from France more than just strategic partnership. We wish for better trading partnership. Modi’s expected visit to Brussels for the EU summit in the next few weeks could clear the path for greater bilateral ties with France.