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00:00 We're going to zoom in now on the kind of politics behind Modi's visit to Paris.
00:06 And for that, we'll turn now to Garima Mohan, who is a senior fellow in the Indo-Pacific
00:11 program at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin.
00:15 Thank you very much for joining us, Garima.
00:18 So can you start by telling us, what's the significance of Modi being here specifically
00:22 for the July 14th Bastille Day military parade?
00:25 What message are both leaders really hoping to communicate with his presence?
00:29 I think this is extremely significant to have Prime Minister Modi on Bastille Day, which
00:34 is such an important symbolic day for France.
00:38 This particular visit also commemorates 25 years of France-India ties.
00:43 And in a way, it's also looking forward to the next 25 years and really planning what
00:48 these two partners wish to do.
00:51 For India, this is significant because France, as you mentioned, is the second largest military
00:56 supplier, but overall is a very important strategic partner for India, not just in Europe,
01:03 but also globally.
01:04 The India-France relationship is historic.
01:07 There's a number of ties the two countries share.
01:10 There's deep trust in France in New Delhi.
01:15 And this is reciprocated as well.
01:16 We've seen that in the personal camaraderie between President Macron and Prime Minister
01:20 Modi, but also in the important place India occupies in France's Indo-Pacific strategy.
01:27 It's an important partner for France in multilateral forums, on maritime security, in the Indian
01:33 Ocean, working in third countries.
01:35 The list is very long.
01:36 So I think this is a good time to commemorate this visit, especially as it follows on the
01:41 heels of Prime Minister Modi's visit to the US, which also resulted in a number of important
01:47 takeaways on defense and technology for India.
01:50 More specifically, Garima, you kind of hinted that India is an important ally for France
01:55 in the Indo-Pacific, but what really are their kind of mutual goals and objectives as far
02:00 as that region goes?
02:01 There are quite a few mutual goals and objectives that both countries share.
02:05 First of all, they have a shared assessment of the threat posed by China in the Indo-Pacific.
02:12 So particularly in the Indian Ocean region, which is India's neighborhood and Europe's
02:17 backyard as well, extended neighborhood, we can say France is an extremely important player
02:22 in the Indian Ocean region, historically has been important there.
02:25 And there, India and France are aligned on how they see the major challenges, whether
02:30 it is conventional threats from China or non-traditional security threats from climate change, on maritime
02:37 security, a number of these issues they sort of see eye to eye.
02:42 Also in terms of working together when it comes to dealing with challenges in the broader
02:46 Indo-Pacific, for example, in the Pacific Islands, et cetera, I think India and France
02:51 have really built a deep level of trust.
02:54 I think the only sort of stumbling block so far has been India's position on Ukraine.
03:01 But here too, I think France has more leverage than any other partner in Europe to talk to
03:08 India and to work with India and also help India as it tries to decouple from Russia,
03:14 particularly in the military sphere.
03:16 So both at the broader strategic level, but also in the nitty-gritty of the Indo-Pacific,
03:22 of course, let's not forget that India is a very important market for French companies.
03:27 And there's been a lot of cooperation, India and France working together in third countries,
03:31 in South Asia, in Africa, which is also an interesting way of countering Chinese influence
03:38 perhaps in the region through infrastructure projects, development projects.
03:43 So in a way, these two countries share a lot of goals, both long-term strategic as well
03:48 as in individual policy areas.
03:51 Garima Mohan, there's so much to say about this issue, but unfortunately, that's all
03:55 we have time for today.
03:56 Thank you very much for joining us here on France 24.