Sealed With A French Kiss

It was billed as the most important event on the calendar of Indo-French ties for the year 2000 and it quite lived up to its top billing. The French government left nothing to chance in rolling out their best red carpets for President K.R. Narayanan during his five-day-long state visit, the first ever by an Indian President.

Eager to get the visit off on the right note, the French made a number of gestures to Narayanan.

Normally, state visits last three days, but the French agreed to a five-day visit, indicating the importance they attached to it. The state visit is also normally to one city, besides Paris, but Narayanan had Toulouse and Avignon on his itinerary. "This is a reflection of the importance the French attach to bilateral relations with India," Kanwal Sibal, Indian ambassador to France, told Outlook.

President Jacques Chirac gave an indication of the importance that he attached to the bilateral ties during the state banquet that he hosted in Narayanan’s honour at Palais Elysees on Monday evening. The French President clearly declared that India had the right to be on the UN Security Council. He declared that France would do all it could to ensure that India gets its rightful place in the world body. Declared Chirac: "It would be a very difficult issue in New York. But France clearly and openly supports the Indian candidature."

Chirac also stressed that India and France share the view on a multipolar world, where once again, France has clearly stated that it believes India to be one of the poles of the new world order.

Narayanan must have also been reassured by the French reaffirmation of their position on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Among the western countries, France has stood out for its mild response to the Indian nuclear tests of May 1998. It has maintained its opposition to the idea of any sanctions on India for conducting the tests and has been urging India to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, but it does not favour any harsh steps to get India’s agreement. "We would be very happy if India could sign and ratify the treaty. But we do not believe in threatening India with any kind of sanctions. We would like to continue our dialogue with the country in order to convince it that it is in India’s best interests to sign and ratify the CTBT," said a senior French official.

At end of the five days, Sibal said, "The visit is a consolidation of the understanding that exists between India and France and the creation of a more favourable atmosphere to develop our political, economic, strategic and cultural relations. The visit has been very useful as there were intensive talks on all these issues."

Though politically, the two countries seem to have come very close, economic ties are the weakest link in the chain. Over the last four years, bilateral trade has remained more or less stagnant at $1.7 billion, making France one of the smallest trading partners for India, while ironically the European Union is India’s biggest trading partner, accounting for over a third of India’s exports. France, by contrast, accounted for less than two per cent of it, even though it is the second largest economy in the EU. The French record in investments into India is even worse. With cumulative investments of less than $243 million till the end of last year, France ranked behind almost all its EU partners. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin also expressed his concern at the state of the economic relations and urged the Indo-French Forum to take the necessary steps to boost bilateral business ties.

Besides, there are other imponderables. The most important one being the enigmatic French relationship with Pakistan. Though the relationship seems to have been downgraded to an extent, especially since the Kargil misadventure last summer, the French are yet to openly state their position vis-a-vis Pakistan, especially their defence ties, which have been historically much stronger than those with India.

THAT apart, Paris has not shrugged away Islamabad, despite the improvement in Indo-French ties over the past two years. Exactly a week before Narayanan’s arrival, Gen Pervez Musharraf was in Paris, a ‘stopover’ visit en route to the G-77 meet at Havana.

Jospin refused to see Musharraf and French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine delivered a strongly-worded demand for restoration of democracy in Pakistan and urging Musharraf to respect the Lahore spirit. Yet, the fact that France became the first western country to receive Musharraf since the coup in was not lost on anyone.

But India should not lose sight of the fact that the French keenness for it is governed by the commercial interests of France, much more than the French would care to admit. France is currently excited by the possibilities of defence sales, including the long-pending Mirage deal, the potential deals with Air India and Indian Airlines for Airbus aircraft and gaining a foothold in the massive expansion plans of the Indian nuclear power sector.

Another concern that plagues Indo-French relations has been that they tend to be personality driven. Since India was perceived to be favourite of right-winger Jacques Chirac, the socialists were seen to be less keen on ties with India. However, at his meeting with Narayanan, the French prime minister set these doubts at rest. Jospin reportedly told Narayanan: "No matter which government is in power and whether the President and the PM belong to different parties, the relations with India will continue to grow. Because, on essential features of our foreign policy, there is consensus between the right and the left."

But it was the French media, never really India-lovers, which managed to cloud the visit. Two leading dailies-Le Monde and Le Figaro-chose to report Narayanan’s visit by focusing on his caste. A Le Figaro report read: "Today, a very unusual event will take place in the Elysees Palace. Jacques Chirac will shake an untouchable’s hand." And though the chief editor of the paper apologised later, the damage had been done.

Le Monde, which was the only French paper to be given an interview by the President, chose to run it under the headline: "The success of an untouchable" and then completely ignored the visit.

It turned out to be a media nightmare for the Indian diplomats here. And changing the media’s attitude towards India could be the biggest challenge for the politicians and bureaucrats in both the countries, particularly when they are en route to a long-term relationship.