India, France Prepare Blueprint To Scale Up Defence Ties, Maritime Cooperation At Annual Dialogue
Maritime security and Defence industrial cooperation topped the agenda at the third Indo-French Annual Defence Dialogue between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his visiting French counterpart Florence Parly in New Delhi on December 17.
In its communications about the Dialogue, France highlighted “the centrality of India in the French strategy” in the Indo-Pacific.
“In a world of growing instability, France sees India as major power & partner to build a multipolar order, defend the rule of law and tackle global challenges,” French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain stated, setting the tonality for Minister Parly’s visit.
The sentiment was echoed by Rajnath Singh. “India-France Strategic Partnership is more relevant today than ever,” he stated. “A wide range of bilateral, regional, defence and defence industrial cooperation issues were discussed in the annual meeting,” the Indian Defence Minister added.
While the statements and communications were explicit about sentiment, the two sides were more reserved on the details of the Dialogue, as they discussed the blueprint for scaling up Defence ties. Minister Parly reiterated “France’s commitment to strengthening India’s defence industrial base and its willingness to offer the best of is technology with a high Make in India component”.
“Defence industrial cooperation was discussed with focus on future collaborations and co-production between the two countries,” India’s Ministry of Defence stated in a press release.
“Indo-French Defence cooperation makes both countries stronger,” declared Ambassador Lenain of France, while stating that “maritime security, joint exercises, on-time delivery of Rafale jets, counter-terrorism, new Make in Inia projects” featured in the “in-depth talks at the Annual Defence Dialogue”.
“They (the Ministers) discussed ways to increase defence cooperation in all domains,” the Indian statement added.
The French side talked about “France and India’s joint commitment to answering the challenges of the Indo-Pacific by bringing together friendly powers to defend the rule of law, offering a positive agenda to the countries of the region, and rejecting all forms of hegemony”.
“In this respect, the Minister will detail the recently unveiled EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific that brings a multiplier effect to this comprehensive approach for the region. Upon taking the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1st January 2022, France will make the Indo-Pacific and India a key priority,” according to a French statement ahead of the Dialogue.
“The Ministers acknowledged their convergences on number of strategic and defence issues. They expressed commitment to work together to enhance cooperation in bilateral, regional and multilateral forums. France is the current chair of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and shall take over the Presidency of European Union from January 01, 2022. The two Ministers decided to work closely on a number of issues during the French Presidency,” the Indian side later concurred in its statement after the Ministerial-level talks.
The French Minister for the Armed Forces called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who stated that the two “discussed bilateral defence cooperation, regional security, Indo-Pacific and France’s forthcoming Presidency of the EU Council”. Modi “reiterated India’s commitment to further deepening our strategic partnership”.
Minister Parly also met National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. “Minister Florence Parly’s meeting with NSA Ajit Doval showed great convergence of views on major regional security issues & shared will to coordinate closely on counter-terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan,” French Ambassador Lenain stated.
