Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Indo-French relationship, if not one of the most potent internationally, illustrates
in its own way the much larger geopolitical quest for global adjustment presently
unfolding. Bilateralism keeps its value, of course, but its impact must be assessed
in a much more complex, multidirectional geography of relations and
perceptions, which today designs the warp and the weft of the new world order.
It remains to be seen, however, which space will be left open to these
multidirectional relationships by the growing and powerful assertiveness of the
US. In this regard, the Indo-French current dialogue inserts itself in much
broader debates, which put under scrutiny the strength of the European Union as
a whole, compared to the weight of each of its member countries; the search for
equilibrium between the US, Russia and China in the face of the new Asian
dynamics; and the uncertain quest for a reformed United Nations system of
global regulation.
NOTES
Thanks are due to policymakers, diplomats, defence experts and analysts who
have offered me their time and their knowledge, in Paris and in New Delhi.
Factual errors or misperceptions, if any, are entirely mine. The Centre for the
Study of India and South Asia, CNRS-EHESS, Paris; the Indo-French Programme
of Cooperation in Social Sciences (MSH, Paris & UGC, New Delhi); the Centre
de Sciences Humaines in New Delhi and the French Institute in Pondicherry
have all facilitated, one way or another, my visit and my stay in India.
1.
For an assessment of Indo-French relations from Nehru to de Gaulle, see Boquérat
(2001).
2.
See Francis Doré, Chairman Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(1998).
3.
See V.P.Dutt, 1999, pp.344-50.
4.
As per a bilateral agreement coming to an end in 1993, France has supplied
enriched uranium to Tarapur Plant from 1982 to 1993. Paris refused to carry on
after the expiry of the agreement, for France was now adhering to the NPT, and had
joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group set up in 1992.
5.
The main litigations affected the HBJ gas pipeline project and the hydroelectric
plant project of Dulhasi.
6.
Alain Juppé's press conference, New Delhi, 4 April 1994.
7.
Dominique de Villepin's father, Senator Xavier de Villepin, was the Chairman of
the Senate Commission for Foreign Affairs and Defence until his son became
Minister of Foreign Affairs in J.P.Raffarin's government in May 2002, while Jean
François-Poncet, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Giscard
d'Estaing when Giscard visited India in 1979, is Chairman of the Senate
Commission for Economic Affairs. He is also the French co-Chairman of the new
Indo-French Initiative Forum set up after Chirac's visit to India. French
parliamentarians (including X.de Villepin) have conducted several study tours in
