JOIN USCo-operation between India and France promises to scale new heights in the wake of agreements signed during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to India. Fourteen agreements spanning the seas and space were signed during the visit. Foremost among them is one under which India and France will provide each other's militaries "logistical support" at their naval bases. This will provide a huge shot in the arm to India's naval reach in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. France retains control over the Reunion and Mayotte Islands in the Indian Ocean and New Caledonia and French Polynesia in the South Pacific. It also has a permanent military presence in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa and in the United Arab Emirates. The recent agreement will enable Indian vessels access to facilities here. Indian naval vessels are already visiting the southern Indian Ocean. Access to French bases would enable our navy to deploy there for longer periods. It is evident that Delhi and Paris have firmed up the arrangement with China in mind. With submarines and warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy increasingly venturing into the Indian Ocean, the threat to India's national security and economic interests is growing. The maritime deal with France will enhance our capacity to counter challenges that may arise in waters far away from our own shores as well as protect sea lanes through which India's oil imports traverse.
The maritime deal with France is similar to the one India signed with the United States in 2016. What makes the French deal more valuable to India is that France has stood by India far more resolutely than the Americans, whose support tends to weaken in situations where they need Pakistan's support. Indeed, Indian analysts are comparing France to the Soviet Union, whose support to India, especially on Kashmir in the UN Security Council and in the 1971 war with Pakistan, was invaluable. Russia's growing outreach to Pakistan in recent years has forced India to look for new partners. France, which maintains both an independent foreign policy while being loosely part of the larger Western alliance and a large defence-industrial base, could well fit the bill.
India will need to tread carefully, however, with Indian Ocean island-nations. France, which is a dialogue partner of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is keen to become a full member and will be looking to India to help it gain entry. But IORA is limited to Indian Ocean littoral states only, which France claims to be, thanks to the territories it continues to control here. Will India support France's claims against the wishes of our friends, Seychelles and Mauritius? Access to French bases in the Indian and Pacific Oceans will no doubt strengthen India's strategic ambitions. But it would come at a cost. It would silence India's voice against colonial exploitation.