'We Will Wait And See'

Manmohan Singh: President Chirac; distinguished members of the Frenchdelegation; ladies and gentlemen:

It is an honour for me and for my colleagues in the Government of India towelcome President Chirac in our country. India and France have a very closestrategic relationship. In recent years this relationship has gone from strengthto strength to a large extent because of the personal interest and involvementof President Jacques Chirac in fostering closer cooperation between our twocountries.

Mr. President, in you we have a world statesman of rare wisdom, knowledge andexperience and it is a proud privilege of our country to count as a very dearand special friend of our country.

Today marks another landmark in the development of our relationship. We havesigned nine Agreements or Memoranda of Understanding. These include such vitalareas as cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear energy, defencecooperation, cooperation in the field of space, cooperation in the field ofeducation, science and technology, and culture. In all these respects theprocess that we have set in motion today will ensure in years to come a far moreproductive, a far more durable, a far more mutually beneficial relationshipbetween our two countries.

We have discussed developments in the global political and economic scene. Wehave also had a very fruitful discussion on regional and bilateral issues. I amvery glad to report that there is complete convergence of views on all theseimportant matters between our two countries.

Mr. President, your landmark visit has opened up new pathways of cooperationbetween our two countries and I thank you from the core of my heart for havingfound time to visit us.

Jacques Chirac: Prime Minister; ladies and gentlemen:

First of all allow me to thank the Prime Minister and the Indian authoritiesonce again for the extraordinary warm welcome extended to us since our arrivalhere in India. We, that is to say myself and my delegation, have been especiallytouched by this hospitality and this generosity. In particular I refer to thehospitality I enjoyed yesterday on the part of the Prime Minister.

We are two countries, two nations, that have indeed much in common; countriesthat have in common longstanding old culture; countries that are deeply attachedto our national independence; countries that share the same ideals of democracyand respect to human rights; and countries that recognise the importance ofabiding by the rule of international law as enshrined in the United NationsCharter.

We also uphold other values in common such as the importance of secularism, aconcern for the need to help the world’s poorest countries in theirdevelopment effort. Let me make an aside here to underscore the importance Iattach to India’s endorsement and support for initiative on innovativefinancing, an innovative funding front. In fact the Prime Minister has told methat India is going to be sending a ministerial representation to theforthcoming Paris Conference on this topic. So, we are countries that indeedshare a lot in common, values and beliefs.

We, of course, have discussed during the course of our meeting, a number oftopics with the Prime Minister. We examined, for instance, our respective pointsof view which I might add were extremely convergent, on the subject of India’saccess to civilian nuclear technology. This access, we feel on the side ofFrance, is indeed necessary in order to drive and fuel India’s economicdevelopment without at one and the same time leading to excessive pollutionwhich would arrive from large-scale emission of greenhouse gases.

We at the same time fully understand on the French side the concerns and theconstraints faced by the Indian authorities and Indian Government, be they of aneconomic nature or they have to do with India’s national independence andsecurity constraints and needs. Here there has been once again no divergence ordifference of opinion between us.

We, as you saw, have also agreed to sign, you are witness to this fact, adefence agreement which further consolidates our cooperation in the defencearena showing thus a strengthening of solidarity both in terms of defence and interms of procurement of equipment - military procurement.

We covered a range of economic and trade issues. I think it is very striking tonote that there is a shared commitment on both sides - commitment that also hasto be stepped up and increased on both sides - to increasing trade flows andeconomic ties between our two countries.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the captains of industry,members of the French business community who have come along with me on thistrip and who will be attending the economic forum which the Prime Minister and Iare organising this afternoon, as you know. As a result of this commitment, as aresult of these agreements and of this cooperation, we have set to ourselves thelofty goal of doubling, increasing two-fold, within the next five years thetrade flows between our two countries.

That is all. This whole scale strengthening of our ties be they of a politicalor economic nature, the ties that link India to France and France to India, Ithink are being borne out as evident by all these agreements and by the seriesof understandings that have characterised our thought.

I wish lastly, once again to avail myself of the opportunity of thanking thePrime Minister, the Indian authorities for their warm welcome, for thehospitality, and indeed for the Indian President for the magnificent ceremonythat was laid out for us this morning.

Question: President, Sir, Mr. Mittal has been stepping up the number ofinterviews that he has been giving and statements that he has been making inwhich he had deplored what he called the hostile welcome that he has received orthe hostile reactions that he has come up against in France. He says that he hasbeen misinterpreted, misunderstood, and he has even referred to possiblexenophobia in respect of this attitude. Would you, if you have the opportunityto meet him, wish to clear up any misunderstanding arising as a result of this?

Jacques Chirac: I would really have difficulty in understanding thiscontroversy. Just look at it as it stands right now. Clearly it involves twoparties, two sides. On the one hand we have a British citizen, Indian bornBritish national, who is taking an initiative vis-à-vis a Dutch company and aLuxembourg company. Therefore, as things stand right now, as we see thingsunfold, all we know is that a hostile bid has been made by the person inquestion which is of a purely financial nature. There has been no presentationof any kind of industrial plan, industrial development plan. There has been noprior consultation, which is in fact contrary to usual practice in such matters.

That being said, it is his right to be so and to act in this manner as it isequally the right of Europeans to care about their job, their future and thetechnologies involved, of what the future holds in store for them. We know, as Ihave already said, nothing more than what I have said that this is a financialoffer, this is a hostile bid. We do not know anything about the content of whatis intended. Therefore, we will wait and see. We are not prejudging anything.But this is the gist of what the Europeans have been saying to theirshareholders, the European companies have been saying to their shareholders.

Now, we have nothing against in principle, absolutely nothing against, anon-European bidding on a European company or enterprise. Far from it. All I amsaying is that we are waiting to see what the bid, what the offer, actuallyinvolves before we pass judgement on it or before we have anything to say on thesubject. Therefore, I think that the concerns that have been expressed areentirely legitimate and I repeat what I said at the outset. I do not understandwhat all the fuss is about. I do not understand what the controversy is about.

Question: This is a question for both the Prime Minister and PresidentChirac, on the same issue. President Chirac, Sir, you have just clarified someof your position on that. Could you confirm if the bid is assessed as unhealthyfor the company in question Arcelor, would your Government take any direct orindirect action to block that? Prime Minister, Sir, did you raise this issue inyour talks with the President? Do you believe that racism or protectionism hashad any role to play in this matter?

Jacques Chirac: Madam, if that is what you have understood, I would saythat you have misunderstood. I repeat what I said earlier on. We do not act norhave we any intention of acting, against a company or procedure. The situationas it stands right now is that quite simply a hostile bid has been made contraryto practice, with no prior explanation, no reasons given, on a large company,European company. As I said, we were given no reasons for this bid, we have nonotion of what intention lies ahead for the company in question. There is noplan that has been presented. Presently we are standing by and waiting for suchexplanations to be given. As a result when they come, and if they come, we willact in accordance with a set number of principles and values and in particularthe independence and respecting and upholding the independence of the privatesector.

Manmohan Singh: Question was asked, ‘Did I raise this issue with thePresident?’ Yes, this matter did come up during our discussion. The Presidentexplained the positions in detail. It is my hope that a fair decision, takinginto account the interests of all the stakeholders, will be taken in thismatter.

Question: This is a two-fold question to the President and the PrimeMinister. Mr. President, France has been very active in striving to achieve forIndia access to civilian nuclear technology, access to a status whereby it couldaccess civilian nuclear technology. If the outcome to all of this is successful,and if indeed the international community goes along with it, what makes youbelieve that French companies would get, would win the contracts and the bidsthat would necessarily flow from such a decision. Could it not be Americancompanies or other companies rather than France or French companies? PrimeMinister, Sir, would you be prepared, were all of this to go through, to placethe installations and facilities in question, the programmes and the developmentof these programmes, under strict IAEA safeguards as indeed is mentioned in theagreement that has just been signed?

Jacques Chirac: I said earlier on exactly what France’s position was onthis matter. France is supportive of India. It is supportive of India as afunction of two principles, the first being a moral issue, a moral principle.India must be allowed to achieve its necessary economic development withoutfacing a stranglehold of economic constraints and energy constraints. The secondis an environmental principle - principle of safeguarding the environment. Inother words India, which is a responsible country, a responsible nation, shouldbe able to produce the energy that it needs for its own development without, atone and the same time this having a negative fallout or impact on the world as awhole as a result of greenhouse gas emission.

We equally understand India’s position in this connection. We are supportiveof India in this position. We know that India has a number of constraints, anumber of objectives. Some of these objectives are also economic ones. But whatFrance … or France’s support for India is a matter of principle. Of course,there will be, there is, somewhere along the line, the issue of Franco-Indianeconomic cooperation, on this particular front and I hope that there will becooperation, enhanced cooperation between our two countries. But I repeat thathas nothing to do with it because our support to India is principled support. Ithas nothing to do with economic cooperation, ties or development.

Manmohan Singh: We are very grateful to President Chirac and theGovernment of France for the principled position they have taken in promotingcooperation between India and the members of the Nuclear Suppliers Grouprelating to facilities, material covered by the nuclear field. As far as Indiais concerned, we are committed to honouring in letter and spirit the statementthat I and President Bush jointly signed on 18th of July.

A question was asked about any international facilities that may becomeavailable to India through processes of enhanced international cooperation. Iconfirm that all facilities procured by India through international cooperationfor civilian nuclear energy will, of course, be subject to safeguards. I amtalking of any facility that may become available to India in the future throughinternational cooperation, they will be of course subject to safeguards underthe International Atomic Energy Agency.

Question: My question is to President Chirac. France entered intostrategic partnership with India in 1998. How has this strategic partnershipevolved over the past eight years? Do you believe that the civilian nuclearenergy cooperation agreement can act as perfect icing on the cake of thisstrategic partnership? What are the difficulties in its implementation?

Jacques Chirac: France indeed, as you rightly said, entered in 1998 intoa strategic cooperation agreement with India. This cooperation agreement wasbased on a number of principles which I listed earlier on and on a number ofcommon interests. Since that day, since 1998, our relations have been constantlystrengthening. They are longstanding, they are permanent and they are very closein a wide variety of different fields. At the international level you know thatwe have always been extremely supportive of India’s bid to a permanent seat onthe United Nations Security Council and we will continue to be so. You know thatwe are supportive of India’s bid to be able to develop its own nuclearelectricity-generating programme. We have strong political comfort on a numberof important political issues. We share many views in common as far as worldaffairs are concerned. In fact on most issues on the world scene we haveconvergent views. Our economic ties as you have heard have also been constantlytightening over the past eight years and I hope that they will continue to do soin the years to come. So, this is the short answer to your question. Yes, I dobelieve that these relationships, this agreement has been seen to strengthen.These relations are becoming ever tighter, ever closer between India and France,something that the Prime Minister further confirmed to me today. We hope thatthis would continue in the future, which I cannot but applaud on my side.

{The comments of President Chirac are as interpreted simultaneously at thePress Conference}