EDITORIAL ANALYSIS : Upholders of strategic autonomy

Source: Indian Express

• Prelims: Current events of international importance, India-France relations, NATO, Global south, multipolar world etc
• Mains GS Paper I: Bilateral, regional and global grouping and agreements involving India or affecting India’s interests, Important international institutions etc

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Prime Minister’s visit to France to participate in the Bastille Day parade will be seen as an important milestone in the Indo-French relationship.
• Bastille Day is celebrated on July 14 every year as France’s national day

INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE

Context

India-France Relations:

What are the Key Areas of Cooperation between the two Nations?

• Defense: France is the second largest defense supplier in 2017- 2021.
• Economic Cooperation: France has emerged as a key trading partner of India with annual trade of USD 12.42(twelve point four two) billion in 2021-22.
• Civil Nuclear Cooperation: France was among the first countries with which India signed a civil nuclear deal.
• Cooperation at International Forum: France supports India’s bid for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council as well as its entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
• Climate Cooperation: India has supported France in the Paris Agreement expressing its strong commitment to mitigating the effects of climate change.
  • Both countries, as part of their joint efforts on climate change, launched the International Solar Alliance in 2015.
• Maritime Ties: Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region presents a blueprint for a strengthening of ties
• Space Cooperation: India and France have continued to strengthen their cooperation in the field of space.
  • ISRO-CNES Joint Working Group
  • Joint Mars Mission
  • Collaboration on Space Debris
  • Joint Earth Observation Mission

Importance of Bastille Day:

• On that day in 1789, Parisians rose in revolt against Emperor Louis XVI and stormed the prison fortress, the Bastille, and released all political prisoners.
• This revolt precipitated the abolition of feudalism in France leading to the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen”.
• It brought France the fame of being the “Les Pays Des Droits De L’Homme” or the “land of human rights”.
• It gave birth to the concepts of “liberty, equality and fraternity”, which many countries, including India, adopted as sacred principles after emerging as independent republics.

Strategic autonomy between India and France:

• In 1998, when countries in the West competed in imposing sanctions on India for daring to test nuclear devices, France stood out.
  • France said: It was an “anomaly” to exclude India from the global nuclear order.
• France was the first country to sign the agreement for the supply of nuclear reactors to India in 2008.
• India-France ties continued to grow in various sectors, “from seabed to space.

Important principles for strategic autonomy:

• The world must accept that “multipolarity” is a reality.
  • There is discomfort in sections of the Western intelligentsia in accepting that the world is reorganized into multiple state, non-state and minilateral powers that have emerged as independent poles.
• Sovereign equality: In a multipolar world order, all states command and demand dignity.

India and Global South:

• India is championing the cause of the dignity of the developing world by speaking about the Global South.
• In the next decade at least two out of the four big economies of the world — India and Indonesia — will be from the Global South.
• It is a mixture of political, geopolitical and economic parameters common to countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Pacific.
• For example, most countries in the Global South were colonies of the Global North.
• Anti-colonialism and decolonisation are common denominators for the Global South.
• India’s championing of the cause of Africa and its call to invite the African Union as a member of the G-20 is part of its Global South campaign.
• The French government’s focus on West Asia encompasses countries in the Middle East as well as East Africa, traditionally an area of Indian influence.
  • India and France can work together in both regions.
• India’s role in the Indo-Pacific as a net peace provider can be reinforced through its bilateral engagement with France.

Way Forward

• While France considered itself a NATO power or a European power, it is equally an important power in the Indian Ocean region.
  • It has island territories like
    • Reunion in the Mascarene Archipelago
    • Mayotte in the Comoros Archipelago
    • Iles Eparses in the Mozambique Channel.
  • It has a couple of naval bases in the IOR besides leased ports in Abu Dhabi, Dakar and Djibouti
• The PM touched on all these aspects during his France visit although defense and other economic ties were highlighted by the media.
• On the 25th year of their strategic partnership, the two announced a vision for the future, through “Horizon 2047”.
  • Horizon 2047 received a boost through the PM’s engagement with the Indian diaspora in Paris.
• The Chinese and North Africans — the Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians — play an active role in French civic life.
  • PM’s efforts might catapult the Indian diaspora into an activist mode that would help the bilateral partnership achieve its goals of Horizon 2047 faster

QUESTION FOR PRACTICE

To what extent can Germany be held responsible for causing the two World Wars? Discuss critically.(UPSC 2015) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)