India-France Strategic Cooperation in the Indian Ocean

France has been enthusiastic about the Quad and had expressed interest in joining the formation. However, India expressed interest in building bilateral military and strategic ties with France in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. During the visit of French President Macron in 2018, the bilateral discussions were focused on defence, maritime, space, security, and energy-related sectors, more particularly renewable energy. During the visit French President raised problems faced by 100 plus French companies in India and possible role of France in developing critical infrastructure in India. The possibilities were explored related to research on high tech Nano satellites, thermal imaging and night vision devices, high tech radars, underwater UAVs and mine countermeasures at sea.

Given the fact that France has also entered into an ‘Exchange and Reciprocal Protection of Classified or Protected Information’ between the two countries it has become imperative for India to upgrade its communication networks in sync with that of US, Japan and France. These are the three countries with which India has entered into sharing of critical intelligence and information related to terrorism, maritime surveillance and critical cyber security protocols. Under the "Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region”, the two countries would integrate their coastal radar stations across the region including the friendly countries such as Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar in which India has installed radars and other critical technical networks including deployment of personnel. India has installed coastal surveillance radars across the Indian Ocean which included eight in Mauritius, six in Sri Lanka, and one in Seychelles and Maldives respectively. While the capacity of the radars in Seychelles (1) and Maldives (1) is of low intensity. In the case of Mauritius, the radars are of very high capacity and can be integrated with French radar networks. French military personnel and equipment in Mayotte, along with established military bases in Djibouti and UAE would help in creating an Indian Ocean wide network.

 Following wide ranging discussions with France on identifying the areas of cooperation and development, and India has expressed interest in purchasing few more Rafale fighter jets from France. Given the fact that India is has not been amenable to any military alliance system, therefore France has proposed an identical LEMOA with as it will help India is supporting evacuation and also support at times of crisis. This would be reciprocal in nature and the whole formal Logistics agreement can be declared null and void in consultations with the two parties. France is a time tested partner and had helped immensely in not only supporting India’s space programme but also nuclear, iron and steel manufacturing infrastructure.

The collaborative plan between India and France includes stationing of the nano/micro satellites in the Indian Ocean and the two sides would develop such satellites which have a life time of six months. These satellites and their synchronized orbits and other technical coordination would be carried out with necessary support from Navies and the defence research establishments of the two countries. In total, at any point of time, there would be four nano/micro satellites in the Indian Ocean region. All these nano/micro satellites would not need geo synchronous orbit allocation, as these would be fixed orbits and in a geo synchronous lock. Satellites would be configured and launched in the space by the French aerospace agency. The second issue which has been discussed during visit of President Macron in 2018, and is now functional is the launching of maritime exercises with France in the Indian Ocean region with specific operational objectives. The VARUNA Naval Exercises are held with French in the Indian Ocean for anti-piracy and maritime patrols, serving operational requirements of both the navies. These coordinated patrols and other maneuvers are proposed to undertaken by the navies, coastguards and other related agencies.  

Few countries including China have been scouting for sea bed minerals around Madagascar Sea. The islands EEZ are vast and vulnerable to mineral scavenging by China, and therefore require security networks which would include Reunion islands, French Southern, Mayotte, and Antarctic Lands. A large Indian diaspora of about 50,000 People of Indian Origin (PIO) are residents of Reunion islands. India and France could initiate joint funds for sponsoring work and undertaking sea bed research and hydrographic surveys in collaboration with respective scientific institutions. There is a need for upgrading the defence cooperation agreement. This should include defence technology transfer and end user agreement. DRDO and SAFRAN (French Defence Research Agency) might work on developing a better version of the Kaveri II engine which has issues with regard to overheating, and is much heavier than many international fighter aircraft engines. India has been importing engines for its TEJAS light combat aircraft from Israel, but in order to increase its endurance and flight time, it needs better engines and fuel efficiency so that these can be used for longer operational deployment. India and France have one of the most enduring partnerships spanning different domains including technology, nuclear, aviation, defence, energy and manufacturing.  

(Dr. Pankaj Jha is Executive Director of Centre for Security and Strategy Studies, www.cescube.com. Views expressed are personal)