On a quick visit to India to join the formal ceremony for the addition of the Rafale fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, French Defense Minister Florence Parly spoke enthusiastically on Thursday about the strategic partnership between India and France. “You can count on us,” he said at the ceremony, recalling how New Delhi “was by our side” when France was going through a critical phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We will also stand by their side,” she said, underscoring French support for India’s candidacy for the UN Security Council.
It is a sentiment that he had underlined long before landing in India as well, describing India as France’s main ally in Asia. In a brilliant ceremony at Ambala Air Force Station, Florence Parly underscored the “rock solid” friendship between the two countries exemplified by the agreement to buy the fighter jets.
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“It takes a lot of confidence, for India, to bet on France; and also a lot of confidence for France to share with India a capability that is so close to the core of our sovereignty, “he said before flying to New Delhi, where he met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
There was no formal statement on the details of his interactions with Indian leaders. Or if China was in the discussion. One diplomat said the talks covered a range of topics between “two close friends.”
In June, when 20 Indian soldiers gave their lives to repel the soldiers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the Galwan Valley, French Defense Minister Parly set out to write to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to convey “firm and friendly “from your country in these” difficult circumstances. “
Diplomats said the expression of solidarity over the loss of life in the Ladakh clash was not a great surprise. France has been India’s most reliable and consistent supporter at the United Nations and elsewhere.
Like when India carried out the 1998 nuclear tests, France was the only country among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to criticize or support the sanctions against India. Even Russia had criticized the New Delhi move, although it did not support the US-led push for sanctions against India. China and the United Kingdom have supported the sanctions.
It is a point that Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledges in internal discussions.
“This is a relationship that has commercial aspects. But it is a strong link, ”said a senior government official.
France started the strategic dialogue with India in 1998 when much of the world was criticizing us, said a diplomat and was one of the first strategic partners India had. It was the only country that was ready to sell INGPS (Inertial Navigation and Global Positioning System) for India’s Prithvi nuclear missiles that help them land on targets.
In 1999, a retired air force officer recalled, it was French Mirage 2000s that dropped the laser-guided bombs, on Muntho Dhalo in the Batalik sector and on Tiger Hill in Drass in June 1999, which is considered the point of inflection of the Kargil War.
This association also extends to space. France has helped India launch heavy satellites and enabled New Delhi to track satellites and access telemetry data from Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
When the two countries signed a series of pacts during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India in 2018, Prime Minister Modi summed up the relationship between the two countries in one line.
India and France strengthened their 20-year strategic partnership on Saturday, signing a reciprocal logistical support agreement between their armed forces and unveiling a plan to intensify cooperation in the Indian Ocean to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
“From the ground to the sky, there is no issue that India and France are not working on together,” Prime Minister Modi said in 2018. The two leaders met again the following year, weeks after Parliament repealed the special status for Kashmir. France, along with the United States, blocked a Chinese-sponsored attempt at Pakistan’s behest for the UNSC to issue a statement on the Kashmir measure.
France and the United States became like a wall again, as one diplomat put it, when China and Pakistan made desperate attempts to have the UN Security Council designate five Indians as terrorists.
“While the United States is a key ally, the French relationship is an additional lever that helps India counter its global adversaries,” said a senior diplomat, recalling how the two P-5 members took years to tear down the great wall. that China had been erected to prevent the UNSC from designating Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.
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