Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
global power, which has to be done 'not with arrogance but not with timidity'.
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Such an ambition calls for an economic strength which is still questioned, and
which has to be assessed at the global level, be it on trade or on the impact of
growth on the human development index. This also means acknowledging, as
Jairam Ramesh does, that 'if India seeks a global role for itself, it must play by
global rules'.
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India may have genuine concerns about the fairness or the double
standards of the rules of the game, be it on WTO, on dual technologies, on the
UN system. She has to address them internally, but also, obviously, through a
constant multifaceted dialogue with others countries, with other powers.
The Indo-French dialogue offers in this regard a number of opportunities, not
simply because 'India nurtures a special relationship with France, a country with
which (she) shares a commitment to common principles',
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or because the
French relationship with the US may appear relevant to India in the new context
developed between New Delhi and Washington.
The value of the Indo-French dialogue owes much to the quality of a
relationship 'based on equality and mutual respect'. France makes a point not to
hector India, and develop a dialogue 'free from rancour', and not 'dominated by
nuclear proliferation and Kashmir',
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contrary to the post-tests Indo-American
dialogue. French and Indian diplomats and policy-makers discuss more than
their short-term interests: democracy, human rights, sovereignty, right of
interference. On some issues they converge. On other ones their judgements
differ. The important point is that the dialogue is carried on. A few examples
may be in order.
Hubert Védrine asserts that 'the great political values of democracy and
respect for human rights' are universal values, but adds for the benefit of his
Indian audience that 'the way in which the Western countries sometimes impose
them through threats, or use them for their own purposes, can lead to suspicion
and rejection'. He calls for an 'incremental approach to political transformation,
because 'democratization is not like conversion, and ideological or religious
revelation, but is rather a historical, sociological and economic' process.
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Such reflections, developed in the French think-tanks and in the French media
(not without controversy) do strike a chord in India herself. These sentiments are
echoed by key Indian decision-makers. For example, Brajesh Mishra commented
in Paris about the problems raised by 'absolutism in human rights': 'when the
West wanted to impose democracy and human rights by employing direct or
indirect pressures, India preferred an evolution'. Yes, democracy and human
rights ought to be promoted, but 'one must, however, proceed in a very guarded
fashion, neither push (them) nor impose (them)'.
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If Védrine agrees that NGOs and civil society, whatever their contribution,
cannot take over from the state in matter of diplomacy, he does not however
preclude the possibility of interfering in special cases. He clarifies: 'We can no
longer accept that leaders who perpetrate massacres and atrocities should, in the
