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Testing commitment to multipolarity

The relationship between India and France has never managed to touch the optimal level. While the two countries profess an interest in promoting multipolarity in international affairs, they have not really worked together in any meaningful sense to achieve this objective. New Delhi, Moscow, and Beijing have made a tentative beginning towards establishing a forum that takes clear positions on international issues. The countries of the European Union that are uncomfortable with the unipolar state of affairs, notably France and Germany, have collaborated with Russia and China on certain issues. But there has been a general reluctance to formalise the interaction, evidently out of concern that such a move might provoke the United States. India's disinclination to interact more vigorously and in depth with France has been puzzling. After all, it has been working closely with Germany in the endeavour to reform the United Nations Security Council — even after Washington made it clear it would oppose any permanent membership bid with which Berlin was associated. France retains considerable influence in areas outside its home continent. It is to be hoped that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit, which President Jacques Chirac is scheduled to reciprocate next year, will mark the start of a significant course correction that will be very much to India's advantage.

The meeting between Dr. Singh and Mr. Chirac has produced immediate dividends in the form of deals for the delivery of six Scorpene submarines and 43 Airbus aircraft. While the submarine deal might attract some controversy, there is an urgent need to augment the Indian Navy's ageing fleet of undersea vessels. This is of course not the first time the two countries signed significant agreements for the transfer of civilian and military equipment; these have mostly been in the nature of standalone transactions. This situation could change once a "framework agreement on defence cooperation" takes shape, and provided French companies respond favourably to the Prime Minister's invitation to "take a fresh look at India." The scope for collaboration in the field of nuclear energy was much in focus during the visit. New Delhi has been able to convince several key members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to have a second look at rules that restrict the transfer of equipment and fuel for reactors. France has now joined the U.S. and the United Kingdom in recognising that an exception can be made in India's case even though it has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. However, the restrictive regime is likely to remain unchanged if Washington decides it has not got what it wants in terms of a quid pro quo. For example, it wants a drastic change in India's relations with Iran. New Delhi's claim that it is committed to multipolarity is under challenge on several fronts.

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