Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
different from what it has been in other major countries: India chose to privilege
her past and present culture. Four years later, France's Year in India was
somewhat different, for Paris was eager to promote, besides culture, French
technology.
On the economic front, the bilateral relations were not what they should or
could have been. French banks and French companies have been present in India
for decades. The new economic policy launched by the Congress government in
1991 attracted attention. Almost every French major set foot in India, if it was not
already present. Besides well-known high-technology companies such as
Dassault, Aerospatiale, Alcatel, dozens of other names could be cited in many
fields.
But on the whole, France was lagging behind not just in term of foreign direct
investment, but also as far as trade was concerned. On the eve of President
Chirac's visit to India in January 1998, the Franco-Indian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry could only stress the weakness of a stagnant relationship: in 1996,
India was ranked 35th among exporters to France, with 0.41 per cent of French
imports, and was France's 43rd client, buying a mere 0.37 per cent of French
exports.
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While high-profile deals such as the sale of Mirages and avionics, or
the launch of Indian INSAT satellites on Ariane space rockets from French
Guyana were under way, the overall economic relationship was disappointing.
The French President's visit to India was to change the substance of the
relationship not so much on the economic front, although Chirac came along
with the biggest corporate delegation ever. The visit was a watershed, mostly at
the political level. Significant signals sent during the visit were confirmed after
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power and decided to conduct nuclear
tests. The strategic dialogue this paper tries to assess was then firmly put on
rails.
1998: THE WATERSHED
The year 1998 qualitatively changed the nature of the Indo-French relations on
two accounts. First, the French President's state visit, in January, set the tone,
and announced a number of new developments expressing the enhanced
consideration given to India by the French decision makers. Second, these
announcements materialized after the moderate French reactions to Indian
nuclear tests, which set Paris apart from other major capital cities. This gave a
new strength to the Indo-French relationship which owes much to the
international framework in which the two countries are located. India and France
are not simply expanding bilateral ties, but pursuing a dialogue on global issues.
