Emmanuel Macron's China visit: How the French president missed an opportunity to cement ties with India

The visits of president Jacques Chirac to Delhi in January 1998 and prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s subsequent trip to Paris later in the year brought a tremendous boost to India’s foreign relations at the end of the 1990s.

The most striking feature was the setting up of a framework for a strategic partnership.

Before reaching Delhi, the French president had declared that he was keen on an ‘ambitious partnership’. Using a de Gaulle-like language, Chirac saluted India, “a nation which has affirmed its personality on the world stage”. He said that he had come to show that “France wanted to accompany India in its potent march [towards the future].”

Inaugurating a seminar in Vigyan Bhavan, the French president elaborated on the nuclear deal. Reminding that certain conditions had to be met, he however suggested to: “reflect, together with those of our partners involved, on the ways to reconcile our common will to cooperate and the necessary respect for the rules the international community has set itself.”

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Chirac’s words were not mere political niceties. When India conducted its nuclear tests in Pokhran in May ‘98, France was one of the few countries which did not condemn Delhi (or impose sanctions). This was greatly appreciated in Delhi and when prime minister Vajpayee went to Paris in October, the new strategic dialogue could take its first concrete steps.

These events set in motion a closer collaboration. From the ‘friendship’ mentioned by de Gaulle in the 1960s, the relationship had become a true partnership. By putting proper structures in place, the dialogue was institutionalised, setting up among other features: ‘A Strategic Dialogue’ at the level of National Security Advisors, providing both sides with an opportunity to review the evolution of the overall global security situation; ‘A High Level Committee for Defence’ at the level of Defence Secretaries; ‘A Joint Working Group on Terrorism’ established to cooperate in the fight against terrorism as well as ‘Annual consultations’ between the two foreign ministries to be held at the level of Foreign Secretaries and finally a Joint Committee for Economic and Technical Cooperation at the level of Ministers of Commerce.

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Twenty-five Years of Partnership

On 27 January 2023, the French ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs noted that France would be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the signature of the Indo-French Strategic Partnership.

A communiqué from Paris mentioned that the two countries must use this opportunity to write a new chapter in their strategic partnership in all fields: “The anniversary makes 2023 an exceptional year in the relationship between our two countries. We must use this opportunity to write a new chapter in our strategic partnership in all of the fields that have contributed to its excellence thus far, such as defense, space, nuclear energy, maritime security and, more generally speaking, cooperation on security issues.”

A French spokesman added: “Our countries have developed in a wide range of strategic fields, ranging from submarines to combat aviation and climate change, via the International Solar Alliance.”

A State visit to celebrate the partnership?

One could have thought that it would pave the way for a State visit by President Emmanuel Macron to India. It was not to be so.

Instead, Macron went to Beijing where he triggered a media storm after cautioning the Europeans not to chain themselves to US foreign policy.

Former US president Donald Trump in his usual vulgar language said President Macron has been in China and ‘kissed Xi’s ass’.

In a rambling interview with Fox News, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee stated: “You got this crazy world, it’s blowing up and the United States has absolutely no say," adding “And Macron, who’s a friend of mine, [went] over with China, kissing his [Xi’s] ass.”

What provoked this remark was an interview, in which Macron asserted that European countries should not get caught in the standoff between Beijing and Washington over the fate of Taiwan.

After discussing the issue of Taiwan with Xi, Macron warned against Europe being “caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy. The paradox would be that, overcome with panic, we believe we are just America’s followers.”

Most observers saw it not as a mere assertion of independence from Uncle Sam à la Charles de Gaulle, but rather as pure kowtowing to the Chinese emperor.

The New York Times noted: “President Emmanuel Macron landed in China to a red-carpet reception and all the pomp of a state visit, a three-day tour little short of a love-fest that he clearly hoped would further his ambitions for France to sit at the table of the great powers in a world changed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Beijing’s emergence as an arbiter of global conflict. But Mr. Macron’s reception on returning to Europe has been chilly.”

The US newspaper’s conclusions were: “Already embattled at home, facing huge weekly protests in the streets, he now finds himself excoriated abroad for what has been criticized as his naïveté.”

It cited the French president’s contacts with President Putin: “whom he failed to dissuade from war after an intense courtship” and with President Xi Jinping, “who wants to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States.”

For The New York Times, the trip “has left the French president more isolated than at any time in his six-year presidency, unpopular in France and mistrusted beyond it as he attempts to reshape not only his own country but also the foundations of whatever international order will emerge after the war in Ukraine.”

It is difficult to comment on the decisions on French internal affairs as a reform of the pensions was undoubtedly long overdue and no politician could have escaped introducing a change in the length of working years.

It is true that the president may have miscalculated the extent of the reactions of the descendants of the recalcitrant Gaulish tribes, but could he have escaped bringing changes in a world where Asia has taken a lead over Old Europe mostly because Asians work more? Probably not.

However, Macron could certainly have avoided falling into the Chinese trap by visiting India and further developing the 25-year-old strategic partnership.

The last visit to India

The French president was last in Delhi five years ago, in March 2018.

On the last day of his visit, Macron went to Varanasi for a cruise on the Ganga with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was the culmination of a trip with a difference. Macron’s trip touched upon two aspects of bilateral relations, the ancient and the modern (and strategic) one.

Before the visit to the Ghats, Macron offered Modi, an original copy of the Bhagavat Gita translated from Sanskrit into French in the early 20th century by the great French scholar Émile Senart.

The ‘strategic’ angle was not forgotten.

Addressing the French community in Delhi, the President explained: “geopolitical context is deeply changed. India rightly fears the reorganization of the world; she fears forms of hegemony in the region and in particular in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. And why not name it, she fears a Chinese hegemony.”

He reminded his countrymen: “France is a power of the Indian and the Pacific Oceans; we are present at the Reunion, we are also there in French Polynesia and New Caledonia. And we are a maritime power, it is often forgotten but France is the second maritime power in the world. We have a strong navy, we have nuclear submarines equipped like few other powers in the world; a maritime surveillance capability through our own satellites and technologies; it is obvious we are a military and intelligence power ranking us among the first nations in the world.”

How come he now forgot these words to just play an illusionary role on the world stage?

Relations still flourishing

It does not mean that the relations between France and India are not doing well. On 10 April, Union Minister Piyush Goyal addressed the Indian diaspora community in France. After explaining that India is now the world’s 5th largest economy, he said: “By 2027-28, we will be the third-largest economy in the world. India is a 3.5 trillion-dollar economy today and will become a 30-35 dollar trillion economy by 2047 when we celebrate 100 years of independence.”

The minister affirmed that India deeply values the partnership with France. “I am sure, each of you recognises that this partnership will see further growth, in terms of both opportunities and friendship. To further our partnership, you all will play a crucial role.”

A visit of President Macron would have reinforced this partnership and perhaps would have witnessed the signature for 26 more Rafale M for the new INS Vikrant aircraft carrier.

This may still happen, but France has lost an opportunity to solidify its partnerships with India for the sake of an elusive relationship with the Chinese Dragon, which has historically always been deceptive.

Indeed a gross miscalculation of the French president’s advisors.

The author is Distinguished Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence (Delhi). Views are personal. 

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