During the 2023 visit, also marking 25 years since the establishment of a “strategic partnership” in January 1998 pre-dating our nuclear tests of May that year, the two countries issued a “Horizon 2047” document “towards a century of India-France relations”. It, inter alia, stated that India and France are longstanding strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific; that the partnership is aimed at reinforcing their sovereignty and decision-making autonomy; and that “France is one of India’s key partners in the development of a self-reliant defence industrial and technological base”.

Earlier, Macron visited India in March 2018, within a year of being elected President, and said that France would like to “make India our prime strategic partner in the region”. During that visit, the two countries issued a Joint Strategic Vision for Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region, involving mutual logistics support, joint exercises leading to interoperability, and information-sharing. In 2023, the partnership was extended to cover the broader Indo-Pacific. Trilateral arrangements were initiated with Australia and UAE, with meetings at the foreign minister level.

In 2018, the two countries also finalised a Joint Vision for Space Cooperation, covering space situational awareness, maritime surveillance and domain awareness. A Strategic Space Dialogue was initiated in June 2023.

The exchange of visits between the two countries reveals the importance both sides attach to the relationship. PM Modi first visited Paris in April 2015. I was then India’s ambassador to France and witnessed the efforts the French side made to make the visit special, including an unprecedented joint ride down the river Seine with President Francois Hollande. Modi visited again in June 2017, soon after Macron’s election in May, to establish contact with the new leader, given the importance of the relationship. His next bilateral visit, in August 2019, came after India was invited by the French President as a special guest at the G7 summit at Biarritz. French Presidents, including Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande and now Macron, have been invited as chief guests on Republic Day.

France has been supportive of India in multilateral forums. It supported India’s accession to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016, to Wassenaar Arrangement (where it played a leadership role in the process) in 2017, and to the Australia Group in 2018. It supported India for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2016, but that was blocked by China. In August 2019, following India’s action related to Article 370 on Jammu and Kashmir, France, supported by the US, blocked China’s efforts to raise the issue in the UN Security Council (UNSC). France has also, for some time now, supported India for permanent membership of the UNSC.

France, along with the US, Russia and Israel, is among the leading defence partners of India. It has been a longstanding source for fighter aircraft, the Mystère and Mirage, and now the latest generation Rafale, and is under consideration for a navy version. It has assisted Mazagaon Dock in building six Scorpene submarines, with discussions on for another three. Discussions are also ongoing for the transfer of technology for engines for helicopters and fighter aircraft.

Space has been another area of established cooperation, with India launching more than 20 satellites from the Kourou launch base in French Guiana, and joint satellites for environmental monitoring. Now, the countries are initiating cooperation for space and maritime situational awareness.

Terrorism is an area of common concern, with both countries having faced major attacks in the past. During his 2018 visit, Macron said, “Terrorism is the structuring issue of the fresh impetus we are giving to our strategic partnership”. It was agreed then to work together against radicalisation on social networks, and the financing of terrorism.

As India deepens its economic, technological and defence cooperation with the US, it is important to have another strong partner in the West, asserting its strategic autonomy, so as to be able to hedge against any sudden or tactical shift in US policy or priority. France provides that option and gave evidence of it in 1998, when it refused to criticise India and opposed US-led sanctions, following our nuclear tests.

However, the limits of the French partnership should also be kept in view. France does not have the same capability as, for instance, the US, to influence global norms and strategies. There are nuances in its assessment of the strategic challenge from China in the Indo-Pacific, given economic and investment linkages, and currently, the felt need to contain Chinese material defence support to Russia on Ukraine.

As India searches for options to promote its interests in a multipolar world, and a multipolar Asia, France, with its own search for strategic autonomy and influence in global affairs, will be a useful partner.

Arun K Singh has served as India’s ambassador to the US, Israel, and France. The views expressed are personal