The Significance Of Sarkozy’s India Visit

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By Rajeev Sharma

The Indian diplomatic establishment has ample reasons to feel happy and satisfied with French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s just-concluded India visit (December 4-7).

Sarkozy deftly used a bit of diplomatic symbolism by choosing India as his first foreign destination after France recently assumed the rotational Presidency of G20 for one year. After a long hiatus, India is starting on January 1, 2011 its two-year tenure as one of the 12 non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. This means that India can now expect to wield better clout at G20 as well as the UNSC. France is one of the staunchest India supporters in the world for quite some time as the two countries have entered into the 12th year of their strategic partnership.

Sarkozy said what the Indians wanted to hear by reiterating his support to India’s candidature for permanent seat of the to-be-reformed UNSC – something that Obama also did during his India visit last month. He alluded to India’s upcoming non-permanent membership of the UNSC while supporting India’s candidature for the permanent membership when he posed a rhetorical question: “It is not just an important matter for India but for the equilibrium of the world that after its two-year term, are we going to ask India to simply to stand down?”

Sarkozy also enthralled the Indians by taking Pakistan to task for its sins of omission and commission on the terror front. He slammed Pakistan, from New Delhi as well as Mumbai, for allowing safe havens to terrorists in its tribal border areas. He reserved his fierce attack on Pakistan for the last leg of his trip in Mumbai on December 7, some three hours before the terror attack in Varanasi. He was unsparing, unambiguous and unrelenting when he remarked in Mumbai that “It is unacceptable for the world that terrorist acts should be masterminded and carried out by terrorist groups in Pakistan.” Sarkozy echoed British Prime Minister David Cameron’s attack on Pakistan during his India visit in July 2010 and came down hard on Pakistan. Sarkozy said: “It is unacceptable that India’s security can be threatened by groups of terrorists acting from neighbouring countries. It is unacceptable for Afghanistan and for our troops that the Taliban and al-Qaida find safe haven in the border regions of Pakistan.” His advice to Pakistani authorities was to “step up their efforts and show that they are resolute in combating these criminals.” As for India, he pledged unlimited counter-terrorist co-operation.

Significantly, like Obama, Sarkozy did not visit Pakistan, indicating that the world has finally begun to learn to de-hyphenate India from Pakistan. Perhaps it is a wry reminder of a witty one-liner: Both India and Pakistan are IT superpowers – India in Information Technology and Pakistan in International Terrorism.

Though Sarkozy’s India visit was not historic, just as Obama’s trip wasn’t, such visits are essential for taking bilateral ties from strength to strength. Seven agreements were signed during Sarkozy’s visit, the most important of these a “general framework agreement” for constructing two nuclear reactors in Jaitapur (Maharashtra). Jaitapur is an ambitious project that will have six reactors which together will generate 10,000 MW power after completion in 2018. Generation of 10,000 MW from one single plant is indeed impressive considering that India currently produces just about 4000 MW, or less than three per cent of total power generation.

India will have to tread carefully on the Jaitapur plant and will have to ensure that the cost of power per unit is not too high or else India will be breeding another Enron, this time again in Maharashtra. For the state of Maharashtra, Jaitapur definitely means happy tidings as it will generate substantial employment for the locals. But it is the long-term risk that has to be guarded against because the Government of India will be spending a hefty $ 9.3 billion on the Jaitapur plant. Another important area of concern in context of the Jaitapur plant is that it is going to have European Pressurized Reactors (EPRs), the first of which is yet to be built, and therefore, the technology remains untested. The twin risks – pricing of power produced which is yet to be worked out and the very high capital investment — makes Jaitapur a high-stakes gamble for the UPA government.

Sarkozy pledged a more robust, intense and wide-ranging cooperation with India, especially in such key areas as defence, space, nuclear energy, education and trade. It is a happy development for India, especially as it comes from a P5 power and the world’s fifth largest economy that is a powerhouse of advanced technology. The seven agreements that were signed during Sarkozy’s visit and the coming together of France and India in as diverse fields as satellite launches and construction of two nuclear reactors in Jaitapur (Maharashtra) signify that the Indo-French strategic partnership that has entered 12th year is ready for the next phase of vertical and horizontal growth. Incidentally, France had pipped the US to post and was the first country to have signed a civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement with India.

Another rosy picture for Indo-French bilateral relations is the French announcement that its companies will invest $ 12 billion into India by 2012. Paris has dangled a carrot before New Delhi saying that the French FDI investments into India could be even dramatically higher if India opened up sectors like insurance and retail, particularly multi-brand retail. This is a contentious and sensitive political issue in India, considering the Left parties’ strident opposition.

India for its part has been treading cautiously on this issue. India maintains that the liberalisation of insurance and retail sectors is “very much” on government’s agenda but the policy has to be calibrated. “..(Relaxation of) FDI cap on insurance and multi-brand retail is very much on the agenda,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said in the presence of French Minister of Economy and Finance Christine Lagarde who is part of the delegation accompanying Sarkozy.

The visit of Sarkozy is a demonstration of the growing might of India which is projected to be the world’s third largest economy by 2030 after the US and China. Sarkozy is the third P5 leader to have visited India this year after British Prime Minister David Cameron came in July and US President Barack Obama in November. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are scheduled to visit later this month, the former from December 15 to 17, and the latter a week later. This means that before this year rings out India would have received all five heads of the permanent members of the UNSC.

(The author is a knowledgeable journalist with over twenty years of experience. The views expressed are his own.)

SAAG

SAAG is the South Asia Analysis Group, a non-profit, non-commercial think tank. The objective of SAAG is to advance strategic analysis and contribute to the expansion of knowledge of Indian and International security and promote public understanding.

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