India, France to act jointly in Indo-Pacific |
India and France have agreed to act jointly in the Indo-Pacific. In a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, the two leaders also agreed to promote "regional stability and the rule of law, while ruling out any form of hegemony," a French statement said. The statement was an indirect reference to China. The two leaders also discussed the recent developments in Afghanistan and shared their concerns about the possible spread of terrorism, narcotics, illicit weapons and human trafficking, an Indian statement said. The phone call came just before Modi`s US visit for the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and a meeting of the Quad leaders, where Chinese aggression and Afghanistan are on the agenda. It also comes amidst French anger over the US-UK-Australia deal to help the latter build nuclear-powered submarines. That deal meant Australia scrapped a $66 billion contract with France to build 12 conventional submarines. India already has a relationship with the French Naval Group, which is helping it build 6 scorpene class conventional submarines. In an interesting display of bonhomie, Macron tweeted in Hindi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Namaste, Priya Sathi, Priya Mitra… Thank you for reaffirming the importance of our Strategic Partnership. India and France are strongly committed to making the Indo-Pacific an area of cooperation and shared values. We will continue to build on this”. Modi had earlier tweeted saying he had spoken to “my friend” Macron. This was an interesting exchange days before the Quad summit, which comes after the Australia-UK-US deal has been signed that has upset France.
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