India gets access to French bases in Indian and southern Pacific oceans
- Thread starter Levina
- Start date
Who is near to even French territories and do we need french territories to be able to control ingress into IOR from South African tip called Cape of Good Hope? French are far away from their territories. They need us to help them and not vice versa. We are more than equipped to deal with chinese in this region as most of the population of these territories are of Indian stock and speak Creaol which is a mix of French and Hindi.
Nepal speaks Hindi as well. But they talk money too.
Anyways, against whom French need Indian bases?
So India judges whether it’s got a good deal depending on whether 2 cents Pakistani journalists are pissed? That’s very commendable way of assessing a deal
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India needs french to lower the tech and strategical risk, France needs india to lower the Financial and strategical risk.
Financial because you can divide developments in two parts (perhaps not the same). Your command will also help Dassault to find an alternative to France, because Airbus take more and more place, and also help Dassault to find studies for its engeneers and keep them aboard.
Strategical because we need both to confirm our place in the world.
India is also a willing partner in that initiative.
India is a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Chinese plan on having a railroad linking Bangladesh to Europe, going through India, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey.
(The caption text is missing: left column is existing, right column is planned; blue dots are ports; red lines are pipelines; gray lines are railroads)
I did link to a PDF report on France's strategic aims in the Indian Ocean Region. But basically: partnership. As I said on another forum, India being a rising regional power and a democracy makes it the best possible partner for France in that area of the world.
This for sure seems to be the golden credentials of the P5 -
- US annihilating the native Indians and dropping "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" over Japan
- Britain's murder of Indians through man-made droughts and rape of its economy for over two centuries
- China murdering 30 million of their own citizens and
- USSR & France plundering their own countrymen in the name of Russian and French revolution - mercenaries in disguise as revolutionaries.
Pakistan knows that India is stuck with Kashmir issue which is pending in UN. Not even US or France can do about it because then it will hurt their so called democratic image in UN.
I don't see how a 18th century revolution can be in any way relevant to a post-WW2 institution, but never mind that, I'd like to hear more about the British Empire's weather controlling devices. (Man-made famine I'd understand, since they were very big on exporting food from their colonies even if the locals needed that food more than them; but drought isn't something they could control or trigger.)
The P5 were simply the independent countries that were among the winners of WW2 and that controlled at the time most of the world (most of Africa and South Asia were French or British colonies in 1945). That's why countries like Germany, Italy and Japan weren't given a permanent seat; they were on the wrong side; and that's why countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand weren't either -- they were simply part of the British Commonwealth, with barely more sovereignty than a colony like India.
I fully agree that this does not correspond anymore to today's reality, and this is why I personally think that countries such as India and Brazil deserve a place there; but let's not misread history.
Hope you arent dreaming..... Our Armed forces are up in arms with no money to be paid for previous agreements........ :tdown: NDA's defence budget is demoralising. In Dollar terms our defence budget is decreasing though our GDP in dollar terms is rising......
@Levina Which GCC country is bold enough to take sides with India France and Japan now?
Opposition in Seychelles to block India’s military deal
Seychelles’s opposition coalition, which holds a majority in Parliament, said on Tuesday that it would not ratify a deal signed with India to build a military base on one of the archipelago’s outlying islands.
The deal will see India invest $550 million in building the base on Assumption island to help it ensure the safety of its vessels in the southern Indian Ocean.
Indian soldiers will be deployed on the island that lies 1,135km south-west from the capital Victoria, and help train Seychelles’s troops.
However, the deal has faced resistance from locals and Wavel Ramkalawan, head of the opposition Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (Seychelles Democratic Union in Creole), said the coalition “will not ratify the Assumption deal. This deal is dead”.
The LDS had held a majority in Parliament since its victory in 2016 legislative elections.
On Monday, President Danny Faure said he would meet with Ramkalawan on 26 March to discuss the deal.
The government says the base will help coastguards patrol exclusive economic zone to check for illegal fishing, drug trafficking and piracy.
Opposition in Seychelles to block India’s military deal
Seychelles’s opposition coalition, which holds a majority in Parliament, said on Tuesday that it would not ratify a deal signed with India to build a military base on one of the archipelago’s outlying islands.
The deal will see India invest $550 million in building the base on Assumption island to help it ensure the safety of its vessels in the southern Indian Ocean.
Indian soldiers will be deployed on the island that lies 1,135km south-west from the capital Victoria, and help train Seychelles’s troops.
However, the deal has faced resistance from locals and Wavel Ramkalawan, head of the opposition Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (Seychelles Democratic Union in Creole), said the coalition “will not ratify the Assumption deal. This deal is dead”.
The LDS had held a majority in Parliament since its victory in 2016 legislative elections.
On Monday, President Danny Faure said he would meet with Ramkalawan on 26 March to discuss the deal.
The government says the base will help coastguards patrol exclusive economic zone to check for illegal fishing, drug trafficking and piracy.
Opposition in Seychelles to block India’s military deal
THE RAFALE FORUM: OPERATIONALIZING THE INDIA-FRANCE-UAE TRILATERAL
by Shivali Lawale India,
France, and the United Arab Emirates (IFU) formalized a trilateral cooperation partnership in February 2023. The three countries share a host of commonalities and strategic interests, of which, defense cooperation is a significant one. Under the aegis of the IFU trilateral, the three sides are committed to furthering their defense cooperation by promoting ‘compatibility, and joint development and co-production, whilst seeking out avenues for further collaboration and training between the three countries’ defense forces’. In their bilateral ties as well, security and defense cooperation is a priority area, and this becomes particularly evident from the purchase of the French Rafale fighter jets by India and the UAE. Establishing a ‘Rafale Forum’ seems like the natural step in operationalizing the trilateral wherein India intends to assume a pivotal role.
India-France: A Strategic Partnership of Middle Powers
India is today, France’s strategic partner in South Asia and the larger Indo-Pacific expanse. The Indo-French bilateral relationship grew even stronger when the two sides embarked on a strategic journey in 1998, the year India conducted Operation Shakti–a series of five nuclear tests. It is pertinent to note that France was one of the few countries that supported India in the advancement of its nuclear program, calling the country’s exclusion from the global nuclear club as an “anomaly”. The partnership primarily reposed on three verticals–defense, space, and civil nuclear cooperation–but expanded with time to include cooperation regarding issues related to technology, clean energy, counter terrorism, training, and education amongst others. It is worth emphasizing that defense cooperation, to date, remains the cornerstone of the strategic relationship between the two countries. On June 5, 2025 Dassault Aviation, France and Tata Advanced Systems Limited, India, announced a partnership to manufacture Rafale fighter jet fuselage in a facility to be set up in Hyderabad, India.
This development marks an important milestone in the consolidation of India’s aerospace manufacturing capacities and its place in global supply chains. It would be the first Rafale manufacturing facility outside France and would contribute significantly to India’s Atmanirbhar (Make in India) initiative. Additionally, there are plans in the pipeline to set up a Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) facility in Noida to maintain and support India’s fleet of 36 Rafale jets and Mirage 2000 fighter jets. These developments come in on the heels of the acquisition of 36 Rafale jets by the Indian Air Force in 2016, and more recently another 26 jets for the Indian Navy which will operate from the two Indian aircraft carriers, INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya. While India has made big defense purchases like the Mirage 2000 jets and the Scorpène class submarines, the Rafale deal stands out for other reasons as well. It provides India an opportunity to become a crucial hub for high-class aerospace manufacturing and maintenance and overhaul center for Rafale jets in the Indo-Pacific region.
UAE-France: A Strategic Partnership Anchored in Defense and Economic Cooperation.
As its strategic partner in West Asia, France has nurtured a robust bilateral relationship with the UAE for over five decades which includes a very strong and diversified defense and security cooperation pillar. France sees the UAE as a reliable partner to ensure stability and peace in a region which has long witnessed turbulent political upheavals and great power struggles. With a view to ensure the security of important Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs), in 2009, France established its first base in the UAE and the Gulf region on the banks of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Camp de la Paix includes naval and air force bases as well as an army training camp. This significant development paved the way for deepened defense ties between the two sides. In 2021, the UAE inked a $19 billion deal for 80 Rafale fighter jets, making it the most significant French defense export. The waning American influence in the region has motivated countries like the UAE to diversify their arms imports and seek relevant partners to provide sophisticated and critical defense technology. As a result, France has gained the reputation as a viable competitor in the region to provide high class weapons systems.
India-UAE: Deepening Geopolitical and Geoeconomic Ties
India’s relationship with the UAE gained momentum when Prime Minister Modi took over the reins of the Indian government in 2014. The two countries elevated bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022 with a special emphasis on space, energy and defense cooperation. It is important to note that the two sides agreed on closer ties regarding co-development and co-production of defense-related projects and close collaboration of the defense industries.
Rafale Forum: Defense Arm of the IFU Trilateral
The three IFU partners are Indian Ocean countries; this oceanic expanse is part of the larger Indo-Pacific construct which is today at the heart of great power contestations and countries of this region are under pressure to choose sides. The IFU partners are committed to maintaining strategic autonomy through development of their defense industries, diversifying partnerships that go beyond the traditional ones and last but not least, maintaining a balanced relationship with the great powers. It is in this context that the ‘Rafale Forum’ becomes important and serves as a key component of the IFU trilateral arrangement. In January 2024, the three sides came together in Exercise Desert Knight conducted jointly by the Indian Air Force, the UAE Air Force and the French Air and Space Force.
A striking feature of this exercise was the participation of French Rafale jets, India’s Su30MKI and Jaguar jets and the UAE’s F-16 aircraft. This exercise which was aimed at boosting trilateral defense cooperation and improving interoperability among the forces of the three partners signaled a strong Indian Ocean regional partnership. The other important aspect that falls within the premise of the ‘Rafale Forum’ is critical, hightech defense production. As mentioned earlier, the three sides have bilaterally committed to joint defense production and the establishment of the partnership agreement signed between Dassault Aviation and Tata Advanced Systems Limited in June is a case in point.
Going Forward
India is strategically poised to play a key role in the ‘Rafale Forum’. By stepping up the manufacturing, maintenance and repair facilities, the country could serve as a very important Rafale hub in the larger Indo-Pacific expanse. It is interesting to note that in 2022, Indonesia purchased 42 Rafale jets worth $8.1 billion which are slated to be delivered in early 2026. After a visit by President Emmanuel Macron to the Indonesian capital last month, a letter of intent was inked by the two sides for 18 additional Rafale jets. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was India’s Republic Day chief guest earlier this year. The visit commemorated the historic ties between the two countries and also resulted in the signing of key agreements. Prime Minister Modi underscored the importance of the comprehensive strategic partnership that was signed in 2018 between the two sides and also acknowledged the agreement “to increase defense sector collaboration,” wherein the two sides will “work together in defense manufacturing and supply”.
Against this backdrop, the UAE and Indonesia could well be seen as the two bookends with India strategically positioned in the middle. This geopolitical constellation and converging defense and security interests could serve the ‘Rafale Forum’ well and also further deepen Indo-French ties. Needless to say that the ‘Rafale Forum’ is a strong arm of the India-France-UAE trilateral which serves as a strategic platform to support the evolving contours of the Indo-Pacific regional security architecture.
Prof. Shivali Lawale is currently the director of Symbiosis School of International Studies (SSIS), Pune. Prior to joining the SSIS, Prof. Lawale, worked for over a decade at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France
by Shivali Lawale India,
France, and the United Arab Emirates (IFU) formalized a trilateral cooperation partnership in February 2023. The three countries share a host of commonalities and strategic interests, of which, defense cooperation is a significant one. Under the aegis of the IFU trilateral, the three sides are committed to furthering their defense cooperation by promoting ‘compatibility, and joint development and co-production, whilst seeking out avenues for further collaboration and training between the three countries’ defense forces’. In their bilateral ties as well, security and defense cooperation is a priority area, and this becomes particularly evident from the purchase of the French Rafale fighter jets by India and the UAE. Establishing a ‘Rafale Forum’ seems like the natural step in operationalizing the trilateral wherein India intends to assume a pivotal role.
India-France: A Strategic Partnership of Middle Powers
India is today, France’s strategic partner in South Asia and the larger Indo-Pacific expanse. The Indo-French bilateral relationship grew even stronger when the two sides embarked on a strategic journey in 1998, the year India conducted Operation Shakti–a series of five nuclear tests. It is pertinent to note that France was one of the few countries that supported India in the advancement of its nuclear program, calling the country’s exclusion from the global nuclear club as an “anomaly”. The partnership primarily reposed on three verticals–defense, space, and civil nuclear cooperation–but expanded with time to include cooperation regarding issues related to technology, clean energy, counter terrorism, training, and education amongst others. It is worth emphasizing that defense cooperation, to date, remains the cornerstone of the strategic relationship between the two countries. On June 5, 2025 Dassault Aviation, France and Tata Advanced Systems Limited, India, announced a partnership to manufacture Rafale fighter jet fuselage in a facility to be set up in Hyderabad, India.
This development marks an important milestone in the consolidation of India’s aerospace manufacturing capacities and its place in global supply chains. It would be the first Rafale manufacturing facility outside France and would contribute significantly to India’s Atmanirbhar (Make in India) initiative. Additionally, there are plans in the pipeline to set up a Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) facility in Noida to maintain and support India’s fleet of 36 Rafale jets and Mirage 2000 fighter jets. These developments come in on the heels of the acquisition of 36 Rafale jets by the Indian Air Force in 2016, and more recently another 26 jets for the Indian Navy which will operate from the two Indian aircraft carriers, INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya. While India has made big defense purchases like the Mirage 2000 jets and the Scorpène class submarines, the Rafale deal stands out for other reasons as well. It provides India an opportunity to become a crucial hub for high-class aerospace manufacturing and maintenance and overhaul center for Rafale jets in the Indo-Pacific region.
UAE-France: A Strategic Partnership Anchored in Defense and Economic Cooperation.
As its strategic partner in West Asia, France has nurtured a robust bilateral relationship with the UAE for over five decades which includes a very strong and diversified defense and security cooperation pillar. France sees the UAE as a reliable partner to ensure stability and peace in a region which has long witnessed turbulent political upheavals and great power struggles. With a view to ensure the security of important Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs), in 2009, France established its first base in the UAE and the Gulf region on the banks of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Camp de la Paix includes naval and air force bases as well as an army training camp. This significant development paved the way for deepened defense ties between the two sides. In 2021, the UAE inked a $19 billion deal for 80 Rafale fighter jets, making it the most significant French defense export. The waning American influence in the region has motivated countries like the UAE to diversify their arms imports and seek relevant partners to provide sophisticated and critical defense technology. As a result, France has gained the reputation as a viable competitor in the region to provide high class weapons systems.
India-UAE: Deepening Geopolitical and Geoeconomic Ties
India’s relationship with the UAE gained momentum when Prime Minister Modi took over the reins of the Indian government in 2014. The two countries elevated bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022 with a special emphasis on space, energy and defense cooperation. It is important to note that the two sides agreed on closer ties regarding co-development and co-production of defense-related projects and close collaboration of the defense industries.
Rafale Forum: Defense Arm of the IFU Trilateral
The three IFU partners are Indian Ocean countries; this oceanic expanse is part of the larger Indo-Pacific construct which is today at the heart of great power contestations and countries of this region are under pressure to choose sides. The IFU partners are committed to maintaining strategic autonomy through development of their defense industries, diversifying partnerships that go beyond the traditional ones and last but not least, maintaining a balanced relationship with the great powers. It is in this context that the ‘Rafale Forum’ becomes important and serves as a key component of the IFU trilateral arrangement. In January 2024, the three sides came together in Exercise Desert Knight conducted jointly by the Indian Air Force, the UAE Air Force and the French Air and Space Force.
A striking feature of this exercise was the participation of French Rafale jets, India’s Su30MKI and Jaguar jets and the UAE’s F-16 aircraft. This exercise which was aimed at boosting trilateral defense cooperation and improving interoperability among the forces of the three partners signaled a strong Indian Ocean regional partnership. The other important aspect that falls within the premise of the ‘Rafale Forum’ is critical, hightech defense production. As mentioned earlier, the three sides have bilaterally committed to joint defense production and the establishment of the partnership agreement signed between Dassault Aviation and Tata Advanced Systems Limited in June is a case in point.
Going Forward
India is strategically poised to play a key role in the ‘Rafale Forum’. By stepping up the manufacturing, maintenance and repair facilities, the country could serve as a very important Rafale hub in the larger Indo-Pacific expanse. It is interesting to note that in 2022, Indonesia purchased 42 Rafale jets worth $8.1 billion which are slated to be delivered in early 2026. After a visit by President Emmanuel Macron to the Indonesian capital last month, a letter of intent was inked by the two sides for 18 additional Rafale jets. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was India’s Republic Day chief guest earlier this year. The visit commemorated the historic ties between the two countries and also resulted in the signing of key agreements. Prime Minister Modi underscored the importance of the comprehensive strategic partnership that was signed in 2018 between the two sides and also acknowledged the agreement “to increase defense sector collaboration,” wherein the two sides will “work together in defense manufacturing and supply”.
Against this backdrop, the UAE and Indonesia could well be seen as the two bookends with India strategically positioned in the middle. This geopolitical constellation and converging defense and security interests could serve the ‘Rafale Forum’ well and also further deepen Indo-French ties. Needless to say that the ‘Rafale Forum’ is a strong arm of the India-France-UAE trilateral which serves as a strategic platform to support the evolving contours of the Indo-Pacific regional security architecture.
Prof. Shivali Lawale is currently the director of Symbiosis School of International Studies (SSIS), Pune. Prior to joining the SSIS, Prof. Lawale, worked for over a decade at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France