Indian Defence Review

Manmohan – Hollande Meet at the G20 Summit

The next important date showing the closeness between the two countries occurred during the G20 summit in Los Cabos in Mexico when the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the new French President François Hollande met for the first time. Apart from the global economic crisis, their discussion centered on the Rafale deal. According to IANS, “The French President expressed ‘happiness’ over India down-selecting French aviation major Dassault’s Rafale.”

Hollande apparently told Manmohan Singh that he was hopeful that the ongoing price negotiations for the Rafale would soon be satisfactorily concluded. The Rafale was in competition with the European consortium EADS’s Eurofighter Typhoon developed by four partner-nations – Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain. Asked by IANS if the French President mentioned EADS’s efforts to get back in the race, an Indian official said, “No specific reference was made.”

Though in early June, The Mail in London had affirmed, “BAE [BAE Systems the British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London involved in the Eurofighter project] believes that when India scrutinises the Rafale and assesses the French submission, it will realize that the Eurofighter is a superior aircraft that will be cheaper overall.…If the Indians are willing to look again at the Eurofighter and there are indications that is happening, a revised bid will be ready for them.”

The Eurofighter’s ‘comeback’ is not taken seriously by experts, especially when the report quoted by The Mail asserts, “BAE has even come up with design for a carrier version of the Eurofighter for the Indian Navy.” The Rafale already possesses a carrier version which has extensively and successfully been used during the recent conflict in Libya. Developing this version of the Eurofighter would take years.

MBDA's MICA Missiles on Mirage 2000

In any case, it is certainly not the trickiest part of the ‘financial’ negotiations which according to informed sources could fructify by the end of the current year. The Transfer of Technology and the ‘offset’ clauses are far more important right now. However, the fact that the French President personally acquainted himself with the Indian Prime Minister is significant for future relations between the two countries.

It has to be noted that Paul Jean-Ortiz, former Director of Asia-Oceania in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been nominated as François Hollande’s diplomatic advisor (Sherpa). In his previous post, Jean-Ortiz though himself a China specialist was directly responsible for India affairs in the Ministry in Paris. One can hope that Jean-Ortiz will bring his expertise and knowledge to the new Hollande administration especially for the bilateral Delhi-Paris relations.

French Defence Policy under President Hollande

In his first speech in front of the National Assembly (lower house of Parliament) Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault mentioned only in passing the question of defence which usually is a domain reserved for the President of the Republic. Jean-Marc Ayrault declared, “In the field of defence, the government will implement the commitments of President of the Republic, the Commander of the French Defence forces, which have been approved by the French people [through the presidential elections]: the withdrawal of French fighting forces in Afghanistan will be effective by the end of this year. To prepare the future, a White Paper on defence and national security will be published by the end of the year and presented to the National Assembly beginning of 2013. A military program implementing these choices will be prepared in a transparent and consistent manner, as part of a large open and democratic debate.”

He added about the ‘force de frappe’ (nuclear striking force), “Our deterrent [the nuclear weapon] which is essential to guarantee our security will be maintained. Regarding our country’s return to the integrated command of NATO, we shall keep our alliances but the conditions under which this is done must be evaluated.” One of the issues is the new budget restrictions imposed by the European crisis. Although the defence budget may suffer in the process, it should however not affect the relations with India. It has to be noted that the day after Jean-Marc Ayrault’s speech in the Parliament, President Hollande paid a visit to ‘Le Terrible’, one of the four ballistic missile nuclear submarines of the French Navy (part of the French ‘force de frappe’).

According to the President’s Office, “As the Chief of the Defence Forces, the President of the Republic went today off the Brittany coast to meet the crew of the nuclear missile-launcher submarine, Le Terrible, which was on his way back from patrolling. By his presence, the President reaffirmed the attachment of France to deterrence. The President saluted the engagement and the professionalism of the crew who are devoted to this mission.” In this field, François Hollande, as Nicolas Sarkozy before him, understands India’s needs perfectly.

French Foreign Secretary’s Visit

Pierre Sellal, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (equivalent to the Indian Foreign Secretary) visited Delhi on June 28. His visit was part of the bilateral annual consultation between India and France. Sellal met his counterpart Ranjan Mathai who had been posted as India’s Ambassador in Paris before his appointment as Foreign Secretary.

A communiqué of the French ministry said the two diplomats were able to discuss, “The situation in the region, including Afghanistan, to review major issues in the international arena such as North Africa, the Middle East and especially Syria and Iran as well as the crisis in Libya and the relationship between the EU and India.” The press release added, “The talks also provided an opportunity to advance on many bilateral projects undertaken within the strategic partnership between the two countries. President François Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reaffirmed their commitment to this partnership during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Los Cabos on June 20. It is remarkably dense; it covers a large number of areas of cooperation: defence, civil nuclear energy cooperation academic, scientific and space, fight against terrorism, development of economic and trade exchanges, and an ever-increasing number of human and cultural exchanges.” Pierre Sellal was later invited to deliver a talk at the Observer Research Foundation on the importance and present difficulties of European Integration.

Bilateral Naval Ties

Like the rest of the bilateral contacts, the relations between the Indian and French navies got a significant boost after the signing of the strategic partnership in 1998. It translated amongst other things, into regular high level visits, harbour calls by French ships and joint naval exercises code-named ‘Varuna’. We can however regret that the last visit of a French Chief of Navy Staff in India was in December 2007. Admiral Alain Oudot de Dainville had then been invited to India by his Indian counterpart Admiral Sureesh Mehta. The French Admiral had the opportunity of interacting with the senior officials of the Navy, Air Force and Ministry of Defence. Admiral Oudot de Dainville also paid a visit to different naval bases such as Goa, Mumbai, and Karwar on the West coast. Having come to Delhi as Vice Chief of Navy Staff in June 2005, the French Admiral was already familiar with India.

A French carrier strike group, including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and submarines, is taking part in the bilateral naval exercise 'Varuna'

In July 09, 2008, the French Chief of Defence Staff (chef d’état-major des armées) Jean-Louis Georgelin received Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who paid an official return visit to France from July 07 to 09. The French Ministry of Defence said in a communiqué, “The naval cooperation is a driving force (élément moteur) of the bilateral relation. In fact, all the units of the ALINDIEN (a French naval acronym designating the Admiral in charge of the maritime zone of the Indian Ocean) allow the French Navy to maintain regular contacts with the India Navy and this is reinforced by the annual naval exercises Varuna.” A visit of the Naval Chief is today overdue.

Varuna Joint Exercises

One of the most interesting features of the naval collaboration between France and India is the annual naval drill between the French and Indian Navies when they practice inter-operability in the Indian Ocean or off the French coasts. France and India began ‘Varuna’ in 2001 and have carried out ten bilateral exercises since then.

On January 07, 2011, rediff.com reported, “Indo-French Naval Exercise Varuna 10 Begins” and giving more details said, “A French carrier strike group including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (Le Charles de Gaulle) and submarines, are taking part in the bilateral naval exercise ‘Varuna 10’ with the Indian Navy that started on Friday off the West coast in the Arabian Sea. In this edition of Varuna, the French Navy is being represented by ships from the French carrier strike group, including the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, destroyers FNS Forbin and FNS Tourville, supply ship FNS Meuse and nuclear powered submarine FNS Amethyste.” It would be pertinent to recall that few months later, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was extensively used during the Libyan operations with the marine versions of the Rafale and the Super Etendard.

Rediff.com also wrote, “In the exercise, the Indian Navy will match the French Navy with its only aircraft carrier INS Viraat, two indigenous frigates INS Godavari and INS Ganga and one Shishumar class submarine, INS Shalki along with the Sea Harrier fighters.” The scope of ‘Varuna 10’ included the entire gamut of maritime exercises from the use of an aircraft carrier, anti-submarine warfare operations and maritime interdiction operations exercises. The previous ‘Varuna 09’ was conducted off the coast of Brest in France from June 27 to July 04, 2009 to coincide with an overseas deployment of Indian Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The 2012 exercise was held between July 18 and 25 off the Toulon harbour.

Bilateral discussions, mutual exchanges of experience and the briefings organised during the Varuna drills are extremely useful for both navies to get to know each other’s capacities and ultimately be able to team up more closely on the seas. A communiqué of the French Embassy in Delhi issued in 2007, at the time of visit to India of the French Chief of Naval Staff rightly stated, “The regional responsibilities of France and India have led to a real mutual understanding and the will to further their cooperation.” This is an ongoing process.

Anti-piracy Operations

In an interview for the IDR, Hervé Morin, the then French Minister for Defence highlighted the importance of joint exercises or officer exchanges as well as joint anti-piracy operations. Morin said, “Our cooperation concerns the very heart of our security – counter-terrorism. This is even more indispensable as we often face similar kinds of threats in Afghanistan, in Europe and in India, as borne out by the attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. Further, we have a very promising operational cooperation, be it regarding anti-piracy operations, joint exercises or officer exchanges.”

Piracy is a plague of modern times as it was in the old days. Some multi-lateral measures have been taken to combat this curse. The Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) established by the European Union Naval Force (NAVFOR) provides a 24-hour monitoring of vessels transiting through the Gulf of Aden. An interactive website enables the Centre to communicate the latest anti-piracy guidance to shipping companies. Each merchant vessel wishing to transit through the Gulf of Aden or off the coast of Somalia is strongly advised to register in advance with the MSCHOA which, in February 2009, set up the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). Naval and Air assets are strategically deployed within the IRTC to provide the safest possible passage. This is one area which has witnessed a solid cooperation between the French and Indian navies.