Opinion | Why India is succumbing to France’s charm offensive, for now

India’s partnership with France remains valuable as long as it keeps US-China competition at bay and offers a diplomatic alternative

But if Indo-Pacific tensions escalate, India may scoot closer to the US for safety and France’s ‘third way’ would quickly lose its appeal

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French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Elysee Palace in Paris on July 13. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:30am, 19 Jul 2023

On July 14, Indian soldiers marched on the Champs-Elysees as their prime minister, Narendra Modi, joined French President Emmanuel Macron for Bastille Day celebrations. Modi’s trip, which came only a few weeks after his Washington visit, showed the centrality of India in Western policies on the Indo-Pacific.

This was Modi’s sixth visit to France since his 2014 election and marked the 25th anniversary of the French-Indian strategic partnership.

Though France has cultivated ties with India for decades, the relationship only became a partnership in 1998. Back then, India faced US sanctions because of its nuclear tests. Jacques Chirac, France’s president then, refused to condemn New Delhi and, instead, went ahead with the strategic partnership. Since then, bilateral ties have greatly deepened.

France and India share similarities in their foreign policies, especially in their search for strategic autonomy. Both are adamant about protecting their independence and despite seeing themselves as representatives of a liberal world order, each has complicated relations with their American ally. This was as true in 1998 as today.

For Paris, India’s partnership goes beyond bilateral projects: the country is the cornerstone of France’s Indo-Pacific strategy. When the Macron government released that strategy in 2019, India provided the “Indo” leg while Australia represented the “Pacific” one. But in 2021, the Aukus alliance between Canberra, Washington and London precipitated the cancellation of a submarine deal between France and Australia, and a major diplomatic dispute ensued.

As a result, France’s partnership with India has become even more central to its Asia strategy. To be sure, France is cultivating close ties with other local partners: defence cooperation with Indonesia is growing rapidly and Paris maintains a strong strategic dialogue with Singapore, but those cannot equal its relationship with India.