Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Dominique de Villepin moved up, to become the General Secretary of the
Presidency, said to be one of the closest advisers to Jacques Chirac.
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Interestingly, the man who held this top job at the end of Mitterrand's
Presidency (1991-95), after having been the President's diplomatic adviser
during his first mandate (1981-88) was Hubert Védrine, who became Minister
for External Affairs when Lionel Jospin set up his Leftist government in 1997.
As a fiery proponent of a multipolar world, Védrine was to favor a higher status
for India in world affairs. In the specific context of the French 'cohabitation'
system which applies when a French president works with a government from
the other side of the political spectrum, the political differences between the two
sides were therefore irrelevant as far as the Indian policy was concerned.
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Juppé's New Delhi speech of 1994 referred to 'a new multipolar world' one
could hope for, a theme dear to Védrine, and a concept Chirac underlined as well
during his presidential visit.
President Chirac's Visit
President Chirac's state visit in January 1998 was rich in symbolism. The French
President had been invited as the Chief Guest for Indian Republic Day, the year
India was celebrating her 50th anniversary as an independent state. To have the
Head of State of one of the Permanent members of the UN Security Council was
significant. The fall of the Third Front Government led by I.K.Gujral by the end
of 1997 might have affected, if not the visit, which after due consideration was
confirmed, but at least its message. Paris decided not to downgrade it to a purely
formal exercise.
While Boris Yeltsin had chosen to postpone a visit planned to New Delhi,
Paris opted to address India as a partner, regardless of regime shifts in New
Delhi. There was in France no pro-India lobby comparable to the Indo-US
Business Council, nor any Indian caucus active in the political circles, for the
Indian diaspora in France, if rich in 'People of Indian Origin'—most of them
from Pondicherry—is rather unlike the powerful and wealthy 'Non-Resident
Indians' in the US. Their limited presence has not prevented French analysts
from taking note of what was at stake as far as India was concerned.
In November 1996, Thierry de Montbrial, Director of the French Institute of
International Relations, the best known French think tank, had called for looking
at India with 'a different eye', and asserted that France 'has everything to gain'
in answering India's quest for a new relationship with Europe. On the eve of
Chirac's visit opinions were published in major printed media, which concurred
at various levels, be they focussed on economy, on strategic perspectives or on
larger bilateral issues.
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Arriving in Mumbai (Bombay) along with a galaxy of CEOs of French major
companies,
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the French President began by addressing the business
