Tightening our embrace with France

French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day official visit to India which ended Monday was a success story even before it began. His interview to an Indian TV channel from the Elysee Palace was broadcast on prime time, and he is the first French president to figure on the cover of a leading Indian magazine.
The positive chemistry between Macron and PM Narendra Modi, clearly visible during the joint press conference Saturday and when they co-chaired the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance, is perhaps a reflection of the 20-year-old strategic partnership between the two nations.

The 14 agreements signed during the visit are aimed at tightening the embrace, and ranged from defence, bilateral recognition of academic credentials to cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and a pact on reciprocal logistics support between the two armed forces. The maritime agreements will be a shot in the arm for Indian attempts to check increasing Chinese belligerence in the Indian Ocean Region. There were however no agreements on joint research in futuristic domains like artificial intelligence, robotics or drones. New Delhi’s reluctance to publicly declare that talks were on to acquire another set of French Rafales for the Indian Air Force can be attributed to the strident opposition charges that India had paid a lot more than other nations for the first lot of aircraft.

Energy was another key factor. On Monday, Modi and Macron inaugurated Uttar Pradesh’s biggest solar power plant. They also agreed to expedite the building of the world’s largest nuclear plant at Jaitapur, Maharashtra, in limbo after India’s nuclear liability law of 2010 exposed reactor suppliers to claims for damages if an accident occurs. India aims to expand its nuclear power capacity—currently pegged at less than two per cent of its capacity, more than ninefold by 2032 as part of its plans to cut dependence on fossil fuel. While the two sides agreed to start work by the year end, how New Delhi plans to deal with strong protests by people living near the Jaitapur plant remains to be seen.