Indo-French relations
- Indian Troops on the Champs Elysées (14th July 2009)
- French Musicians for the Military Music Festival under India Gate
France and India enjoy an exceptionally warm relationship, which is the fruit of deep affinities and the unwavering trust between the two countries since the independence of India.
An intense cooperation between our two countries has developed in areas as sensitive as defence, security and energy since the launch of the Strategic Partnership in 1998.
In the economic field, trade relations have developed over the years and French companies have been investing massively in India: with nearly 19bn USD investment-stock, French companies are among the first international investors in India.
The frequent bilateral visits illustrate the vigour of this unique relationship. read more...
1- Political relations
Fifteen years after the launch of the Franco-Indian strategic partnership in 1998, the bilateral relationship has been steadily strengthening, widening in scope and has reached exemplary level.
As global strategic partners, India and France consult each other on all international matters in a spirit of mutual understanding, respect, trust, and support, taking account of respective security interests. France strongly supports India’s candidacy for a seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and its access to civil nuclear cooperation.
At the core of Indo-French relations lies thestrategic partnership launched in 1998. Since then, the strategic dialogue is based on annual high-level meetings and consultations conducted semi-annually by the Diplomatic Advisor to the French President and the National Security Advisor of the Prime Minister of India.
The strategic partnership comprises the following focal areas:
Civil nuclear cooperation: the bilateral cooperation agreement for the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which entered into effect on 14 January 2010, defined the framework of our cooperation in this field. Two agreements signed on 6 December 2010 complete its legal aspects. Several cooperation projects in the area of nuclear research and safety are in the process of being finalized. read more...
Civil nuclear cooperation: the bilateral cooperation agreement for the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which entered into effect on 14 January 2010, defined the framework of our cooperation in this field. Two agreements signed on 6 December 2010 complete its legal aspects. Several cooperation projects in the area of nuclear research and safety are in the process of being finalized. read more... Defence cooperation: our cooperation in this area is ambitious and several collaborative projects are currently being considered. Our military contacts are increasing through joint exercises. read more... Counter-terrorism cooperation: Since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, France and India have strengthened their cooperation in this area. read more... Space cooperation: the agreement on the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, signed on 30 September 2008, extended and clarified the areas of cooperation, emphasizing in particular the study of climate change using space-based facilities for Earth observation, or the development of telecommunications satellites for commercial purposes. This agreement made it possible to develop the Megha-Tropiques satellite, launched on 12 October 2011, and the SARAL satellite, which was put in orbit on 25 February 2013. read more...2- Economic relations
Today, more than 750 French subsidiaries covering a broad spectrum of sectors are established in India and employ approximately 240,000 people. The capital investment stock of these companies in India is USD 19 billion approximately. This figure places France amongst the largest foreign investors in India.
French investments in India are the result of several successive waves: the ‘historic’ investments of the 19th century (Alstom, BNP); a group of French companies that came to India 30 years ago; and a third group of companies, the large majority, which created their subsidiaries in India from 2006 onwards.
Over the next 4 to 5 years, the stock of French investments in India should evolve significantlywith the consolidation and extension of existing investments, as well as the arrival of new companies in India. More investments are to come following the contracts and industrial cooperation in strategic sectors, which trigger 30 to 50% offset.
The largest French employer in India, Cap Gemini has a skilled workforce of 50,000. More specifically, the information technology and communication sector is one of the larger French employers in India with a dozen companies employing a total of a little over 70,000 employees, followed by banks (BNP Paribas employs 14,000 employees). In the industry sector, the major employment providers today are Schneider Electric (17,000), Alcatel Lucent (12,000), and Alstom (9,000). Most of the skilled employees are Indian nationals.
In addition to their office headquarters and their production plants, French companies also set up large research and development centers. French companies in India employ between 15,000 and 20,000 employees for R&D.
French companies are present throughout the territory of India but are principally concentrated in the large metropolitan cities (Delhi-NCR, Mumbai/Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata).
- French Companies in India
The bilateral trade volume has remained steady over the years: French exports stood at € 2.8 billion and French imports at € 4.7 billion.
3- Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation
Bilateral cooperation on higher education, science, research and innovation has become an important aspect of Indo-French relations over the years. Our two countries encourage closer people–to-people contact, through inter alia, easing mobility and human exchanges and promoting education, science and cultural cooperation as well as expanding trade and investment.
In the field of higher education, there are approximately 3,000 Indian students in France, a number that is growing sharply, as it has more than doubled over the past five years. In a symmetric way, there are now 1,400 French students in India. Our two countries encourage greater student exchanges between them and French higher education institutes have developed dynamic exchange programmes with over 300 premier Indian institutes and universities over the years.
Scientific and technical cooperation is another key area of our partnership. This cooperation is based on high-quality structures, bringing French and Indian researchers and scientists together, such as CEFIPRA (Franco-Indian Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research), which celebrated its 25th anniversary in February 2012; the development of joint research laboratories in promising areas of research (neuroscience, chemistry); the two French Institutes in Delhi and Puducherry; the research centres and a very strong presence of French research in the private sector (10,000 to 20,000 persons) completes our presence.
The Indo-French technology summit, held in Delhi on 23-24 October 2013, gathered 900 participants in total, including 300 French delegates. 170 Indian companies and 200 public institutions came to meet 62 French companies and 70 public institutions present. It opened up a new ecosystem for extended collaboration between businesses, academic organizations, research organizations in technology related areas, education, urban development, water management.
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