New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France will focus on furthering defence and security ties between New Delhi and Paris, and the ongoing rioting and protests in France will have “no impact” on the strategic partnership, according to Mohan Kumar, former Ambassador of India to France.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to be the ‘Guest of Honour’ at France's Bastille Day celebrations on July 14, at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron. India and France are also celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Franco-Indian strategic partnership.
“France will take care of its internal problems. France is fully capable of bouncing back. It will. Yes, they face issues, nobody can deny it. But it is my sense, that we as a country that shares a wonderful strategic partnership with France, should let France take care of this,” said Kumar, in an exclusive interview to ABP Live.
“We can rest easy on the assumption that this will have no impact whatsoever on the strategic partnership. I expect the PM’s visit to fully focus on the full gamut of bilateral relations between India and France,” he said.
France got engulfed in nationwide unrest and violent protests following the death and killing of a teenager by the police in suburban Paris on June 27, exposing the emerging divisions within the French government and the people.
According to the veteran diplomat, PM Modi's visit there next week will strengthen India-France bilateral ties, particularly the defence partnership.
“There will be incremental progress on a number of issues during the PM's visit to France… I expect serious progress to be made in defence. But I don’t think anybody can confirm whether an agreement can be signed, for example, for SAFRAN to actually develop engines in India, or, whether our Navy is going to acquire Rafale (fighter planes),” said Kumar, under whose tenure India and France signed the deal to procure 36 Rafale jets in September 2016.
“Because we have made so much progress in the relationship already between India and France, it is not fair to expect a big-ticket item every year,” Kumar, who was India’s envoy to Paris from May 2015 to July 2017, added.
‘France Was Earliest in Transferring Defence Tech To India’
PM Modi will be visiting France in less than a month since his first-ever state visit to the US where he signed key defence pacts. During the visit, US defence giant GE Aerospace signed a deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to manufacture F-414 fighter jet engines in India under the ‘Make In India’ programme.
French defence major Safran is also keen to manufacture jet engines in India under full transfer of technology, which will power the twin-engine Advanced Multirole Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
“One of the earliest countries to transfer technology was actually France. We have clearly conveyed a message to France, even in my time (as the envoy to France), that we have to move from a buyer-seller relationship when we bought the Rafale to an investor-investee relationship,” said Kumar, current Dean and Professor of OP Jindal Global University.
He stressed that India has made it clear to France that the future of defence ties, which is one of the main pillars of the relationship, lies in producing the defence items in India and not in selling.
“I am not at all convinced that this is a zero-sum game where because the United States has decided to do something, France will begin to lose interest because there are sectors of the armed forces, like the (Indian) Air Force, which are actually for a long time are completely dependent on France and we’ve had a good record,” he said, adding that French defence items are known for reliability and kept in mind India’s security sensitivities.
India is also planning to procure the French Rafale M fighter jets for the Indian Navy. The Rafale M, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, is believed to have emerged as the top choice for the Indian Navy after stiff competition with American Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet under the country’s Multi-Role Carrier-Borne Fighters (MRCBF) programme.
“There is a certain comfort factor, there is a certain reliability factor, there is a factor that goes to France respecting our sensitivities. In that sense, I am sure there is room for everybody … The only change we are asking from partners like France and US is that we cannot keep buying, come and make it here,” said Kumar.