ABSTRACT
Since 2018 Indian and international scholars have pointed out how Paris has replaced Moscow as a sole consistent supporter of Indian interests in the international arena. Three broad reasons are cited to explain why France has emerged for India as a ‘new Russia’. For one, Paris is perceived to be such a comfortable partner for New Delhi that Indian leaders can utilise the term ‘alliance’ without any harm to its traditional stance on ‘strategic autonomy’. Narendra Modi’s reference to ‘InFra’ as ‘an alliance between India and France’ that he made during a speech in Paris in August 2019, is a case in point. Secondly, in the changing realities of the twenty first century, India and France are drawing closer together and are cooperating on military nuclear propulsion and other sensitive military areas that were previously reserved only for the Soviet Union/Russia. Thirdly, France has proven to be a more reliable partner since Russia’s support on Kashmir has turned ‘lukewarm’, as Moscow is now following an ambiguous policy on sensitive issues for New Delhi and has also started to establish a closer level of strategic cooperation with Pakistan. Based on their comparative historical analysis, this chapter therefore defines the drivers of Russia’s and France’s policies in South Asia since the early 1990s and identifies the resultant geopolitical shifts for both India and the region.
