In a sign of France’s increased focus on the Indian Ocean and China’s increasingly assertive behavior across the region, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed the country’s first ambassador to the Indo-Pacific.
Christophe Penot, one of France’s top diplomats who was until recently sent to Australia, will take up the new post from October 15, people familiar with the events said on the condition of anonymity.
“Penot was appointed directly by President Macron. In his new capacity, he will pay particular attention to cooperating with India as the main strategic partner in the region and with a view to implementing the 2018 joint vision on the Indo-Pacific adopted by President Macron and the Prime Minister. [Narendra] Modi, ”said one of the people quoted above.
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The move, the people said, also reflects the priority given to the Indo-Pacific in France’s diplomacy and the need for a comprehensive approach to the region.
Penot will be based in Paris and is expected to travel widely across the Indo-Pacific to coordinate with French partners and forge new initiatives such as the trilateral dialogue launched with India and Australia last month to enhance cooperation and strengthen multilateralism.
Beyond China’s aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific, there are other reasons for France’s focus on the region: the presence of 1.5 million French citizens in island territories and the fact that 93% of their area Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of more than 11 million square km, the second largest in the world, is located in the Indo-Pacific. France also has 8,000 soldiers stationed in the region.
France, which signed a defense logistics support agreement with India in 2018, also has plans for more patrols and joint operations with the Indian Army in the Indian Ocean to protect the interests of both countries and ensure a rules-based order. These activities would have taken on a larger dimension this year had it not been for the Covid-19 pandemic, the people said.
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French officials also believe that China’s presence at a number of civil and military installations, including Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Gwadar in Pakistan and Djibouti, has security implications for the Indian Ocean. Both Macron and French Defense Minister Florence Parly have spoken of the “Indo-Pacific axis with France, India and Australia as the backbone”.
France’s Indo-Pacific policy notes that the region is at the center of its efforts to ensure a stable, multipolar order based on the rule of law and free movement. France also foresees a strong participation in solving regional crises, guaranteeing the safety of maritime routes and in the fight against terrorism and radicalization.
Last month, Germany became the second major power in the European Union after France to adopt an Indo-Pacific policy, saying that strategic competition for influence was increasing in the region that “is becoming the key to shaping the international order in the 21st century. ” Revealing the policy, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said: “We want to help shape [the international order of tomorrow] so that it is based on the rules and international cooperation, not on the law of the strong ”.
Former Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow for Foreign Policy Studies at Gateway House, said the decision to appoint the envoy to the Indo-Pacific was in line with what France had been doing for the past two years to forge further cooperation. narrow in the Indian Ocean. mainly with a view to the island territories of Reunion and Mayotte.
Among the Europeans, the French were the first to come to the conclusion that they must be part of the Indo-Pacific. It is clear to Europeans that real global politics will unfold in the Indian Ocean and this is part of efforts to maintain its relevance in the region, ”he said.
“But a key issue will be their rapprochement with China, as Europeans are expected to play a calibrated role as they do not come to the Indo-Pacific solely because they want to side with democratic powers. However, this is a positive development for India, which needs to coordinate its positions and perspectives on developments in the Indo-Pacific with European powers, especially France and Germany, ”he added.
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