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India and France: A Joint Step Forward

In December 2019, Vice Admiral Didier Malterre, Joint Commander of the French forces deployed in the Indian Ocean announced that France would soon be executing Joint Patrols in the Indian Ocean, centred on the southern and north-western Indian Ocean and the French territory of La Reunion, with India. Malterre, who is also the Chief of French Joint Forces stationed in the UAE, cited a “clear strategic and political objective of France in the region.”

This development represents a divergence from the Indian policy of only executing Coordinated Patrols (CORPAT) with its allies — a policy that has persisted in the face of offers from longstanding partner nations like the US — and is an indication of the deepening strategic partnership between France and India in the Indian Ocean Region. This move springs from a series of agreements, joint statements, and MoUs between the two countries, starting with the release of the Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region, launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Macron during the latter’s visit to India in March 2018. The meeting was preceded by the formal handover of the first of the 36 Rafale aircraft purchased by India.

On the Indo-French dynamic
The signing of a Strategic Partnership in 1998 between France and India under President Jacques Chirac was the first step in a partnership that has grown to encompass multisectoral cooperation, across nuclear, space, defence, cyber security, intelligence-sharing and counter-terrorism initiatives.

Source : Defence Aviation