Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLE 1 ORDERS FOR FRENCH DEFENSE EQUIPMENT PASSED BY INDIA AND
PAKISTAN DURING THE NINETIES (BILLIONS OF F.F.)
Source: Délégation Générale po
ur l'Armement. Rapport au Parlement, Paris, 2001,
annexe 6, pp.81-2.
REGIONAL ISSUES
The strategic dialogue conducted between France and India covers all
geopolitical issues, including those of immediate regional interest for New Delhi
and Paris. Out of them, Kashmir and the question of militant Islamism, and the
Indian Ocean should be briefly addressed here.
Kashmir and Terrorism
On the sensitive Kashmir issue, New Delhi can, on the whole, praise Paris, which
seems to have adopted the traditional Indian diplomatic mantra: the less we talk
about Kashmir, the better it is. Contrary to the US, France has never presented
herself as a potential mediator, and does not encourage Track II or Track III
diplomacy on the issue, or on India-Pakistan relations at large. Basically, the
French position, as expressed by Foreign Minister Alain Juppé in 1994, has not
changed: 'the internationalization of the (Kashmir) question must be avoided. A
solution must be found in a bilateral frame, between India and Pakistan'.
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Paris similarly does not criticize publicly the human rights record of Indian
forces in Kashmir, does not refer to 'the wishes of the Kashmiris' nor does it
present the Line of Control as 'a nuclear flashpoint', although concerns have
been voiced in various ways, particularly after the military tension which has
followed the attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001. Just after the Kargil
crisis, the French position was reiterated in parliament: no mediation.
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South Block could have written the brief, although up to a point. First, Paris
has always called for the resumption of the Indo-Pakistani dialogue when it was
frozen. More generally, and whatever could be their own reservations on
Pakistan's policies, successive French governments have always considered it
wise to keep Islamabad engaged. This was done after the tests, and done as well
after General Musharraf's coup in 1999, in order to avoid the pitfalls of a
dangerous isolation.
Second, and for the same reasons, while Paris had and is still 'condemning all
sorts of violence, terrorism and external interferences',
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it stops short of
