Unveiled by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron during the latter’s 9-12 March visit to India, the “Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Co-operation in the Indian Ocean Region” confirms the importance of the two countries as Indo-Pacific powers and cements the place of each in the other’s strategic thinking. It is a development that will not have gone unnoticed in Beijing.

 
The Joint Strategic Vision was just one of many agreements reached over the course of French President Emmanuel Macron’s four-day visit to India. Other agreements covered the spectrum from trade to solar and nuclear energy, education and cultural links. More important still is the related agreement for the Provision of Reciprocal Logistics Support.  Under that arrangement, Indian naval vessels will have access to French naval bases in both the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
It is a development that will not have gone unnoticed in Beijing.
For India, the deepening of the security relationship with France – of which the naval logistics agreement is but one component – provides an additional bulwark against its perceptions of the expanding presence of China in the Indian Ocean Region. Usefully for New Delhi, at a time when China has again been more active in the Maldives and Sri Lanka, it will aid possible Indian naval deployments in the western Pacific.
The Joint Strategic Vision supports the regional architecture, including the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Francophone Indian Ocean Commission (COI). It also confirms the two countries’ shared security concerns and their similar traditions of strategic autonomy, which, for both countries remains cherished.
As part of that, space is left for others to join under a trilateral – but not multi- or mini-lateral – arrangement.
That can leave the door open for Australian involvement.
As a long-time partner of France and with a progressively deepening relationship with India, Australia would be an obvious contender and a neat fit in any future Indo-French trilateral.
All three countries share concerns over such issues as freedom of navigation in international waters (a clear reference to the South China Sea), and the many security and environmental challenges that confront the Indian Ocean Region.
Royal Australian Navy participation in the Indo-French Varuna naval exercises would offer a symbolic yet visible demonstration of the commitment of the three countries to a free and open western Indo-Pacific.
Macron, who enjoys a warm professional relationship with Modi, sought to use his India visit to elevate France to being India’s primary European partner.
Certainly, the departure of the UK from the European Union could aid that and Macron has been sharp to try and capitalise on it.
France will, however, have its work cut out in achieving that because, despite all the progress made to date across all sectors, France is only India’s fourth-largest European trading partner, after Germany, the UK and Belgium.
The defence industry is an obvious source of export earnings for France, as is the education sector. The United States, UK and Australia are already very familiar with the earnings potential of that sector and Macron has stated that he wants to double the number of Indian students studying in France.
Possible language barriers aside, there is little doubt that rising living standards in India can offer significant opportunities for French businesses and Macron appears to be providing some solid leadership to help it along.

– by Leighton G. Luke
Research Manager,Indian Ocean Research Programme
Future Directions International, Australia.