Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the guest of honor at the July 14 military parade in Paris. This will be an opportunity for the France to "engage in a new phase of partnership" with Delhi. "To mark this important milestone, a contingent of the Indian Armed Forces will participate in the parade alongside French forces," the two countries said in a joint statement on Friday.

They say they want to set "ambitious new goals for strategic, cultural, scientific, academic and economic cooperation, including in a large number of industrial sectors". Recalling that they "share a common vision of peace and security, particularly in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region", the partners are also considering "joint initiatives" on climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable development.

This visit will also be "an opportunity for France and India to reaffirm their commitment to multilateralism, including in the context of India's presidency of the G20", they said. Paris and Delhi are important partners. In February, India's national carrier Air India signed a letter of intent with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus for 250 aircraft.

India's demographic power

The France seeks to increase its influence in the vast Indo-Pacific region, stretching from India to the South Pacific, China, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. While India is becoming the most populous country in the world, surpassing China to reach 1.425 billion inhabitants, according to the United Nations, this area will have 2040% of the world's population by 75. With significant potential for economic development.


🇮🇳🇫🇷 PM Narendra Modi visits Paris on 14 July. Joint communiqué between France and India. https://t.co/O158LvxJtN pic.twitter.com/nnUecUX1vt

— Alban Alvarez (@AlbanAlvarez) May 5, 2023

Access to this content has been blocked in order to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on "I ACCEPT", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners

I AGREE

And to better pay 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our button "I accept for today" in the banner below.

More information on the Cookie Policy page.



The France has several territories such as New Caledonia, French Polynesia or the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories. More than 7,000 French soldiers are stationed there, a dozen frigates are operational and a few planes ensure the surveillance of the area.

A common vision towards China

Emmanuel Macron visited China in April, which in recent months has multiplied the demonstrations of force against Taiwan. During an official visit last September, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna noted "common ground" between Delhi and Paris on the fact that "the logic of block to block would be erroneous: it is no longer the American logic, we distinguish ourselves by a more nuanced and multidimensional approach in our relationship with China".

She added that the France shared with India "a very broadly convergent analysis on China's attitude, its militarization" and common concerns, particularly on Beijing's operations in the Taiwan Strait.

  • World
  • July 14
  • India
  • Emmanuel Macron