English Article

India and France: A Deepening Friendship

Strategic convergence between India and France runs deep. As PM Modi visits the French capital, bilateral ties are set for a boost, even as both nations together review the turbulent international landscape.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ascent to power has not just brought about a more frenetic form of Indian diplomacy but has also resulted in what may be called “personalised diplomacy”. Modi believes that taking time out with global leaders and investing in personal relations makes a difference in relations between States. To his credit, he has made enormous efforts to cultivate global leaders and leverage it to India’s benefit. Who can forget “chai pe charcha” with former US President Barack Obama at Hyderabad House in 2015 when Modi was relatively new to the game of global diplomacy. After eight years of non-stop interaction with world leaders, I would single out two leaders with whom Modi has struck a really close and trusting relationship. One is obviously the Japanese leader Shinzo Abe who has since retired from political life. The other leader is the French President Emmanuel Macron. In June 2017, as I was packing my bags for retirement after 36 years in the Indian Foreign Service, I got a call from the then foreign secretary and the present External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informing me that the PM will be making a visit to France shortly to meet the newly elected French leader Emmanuel Macron. This was brilliant on the part of Modi because Macron was a completely unknown quantity at the time and Modi was one of the first overseas leaders to visit him in Paris after the latter’s election. Macron had stormed into the French presidency, much like Modi when he became Indian PM in 2014. Since then, the two leaders have met on numerous occasions, and it is fair to say they get along like a house on fire. The strategic convergence between India and France is not skin-deep. It is based on the fundamental conviction of both countries in a multipolar world and in the concept of strategic autonomy. More importantly, France has stood by India through thick and thin, beginning with 1998 when India conducted nuclear tests and the entire world was ranged against us. Since then, India and France have deepened their strategic partnership to such an extent that there is really no outstanding problem or irritant in the relationship today.