Narendra Modi, Macron’s special guest for the July 14 celebration

Africa-Press – Lesotho. While France is coming out of a big traumatic stage where Emmanuel Macron shined in his lack of commitment and firm position, the President of the Republic had a distinguished guest for the traditional parade of July 14: Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India.

This visit was not without its share of controversy, especially against the French President, who broke with tradition by not speaking on a national holiday.

The media, for their part, insisted on the symbol represented, in their eyes, by Modi, a staunch defender of Hindutva, in the context of the French riots and what should be called the malaise of the suburbs, inhabited mainly by the descendants of migrants from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa.

Is there a clear desire on the part of Emmanuel Macron to send a message to the population? We highly doubt it. Official visits by Heads of State are not organized overnight.

Such visits are mainly opportunities for them to discuss international cooperation rather than local issues. And this visit of Modi to France is really very strategic for both countries.

On the one hand, the Prime Minister of India continues to develop a middle-of-the-road approach, which his current Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, believes in.

This highly pragmatic approach places international relations at the heart of India’s economic development, without subordinating the latter to a particular pole of global geopolitics.

India sets an alternative course India, therefore, sets an alternative course, working with countries leaning towards the American sphere of influence as well as those who prefer the Chinese sphere of influence.

Moreover, it maintains cordial diplomatic relations, fraught with real problems, with the United States and with China. A highly strategic example of this remains the fact that the Indian government remains fully committed to the QUAD security agreements while being an active and influential member of BRICS.

Emmanuel Macron has not only understood and assimilated it well, but it is especially clear that he considers the Indian path the one that France and the European Union should take.

Moreover, he has shown this posture on several occasions recently, especially on the Ukrainian question, where he openly opposed the idea of ​​using a “fast-track” for Ukraine’s entry into NATO.

He also opposed the opening of a NATO office in Japan, seeing it as a symbolic act of aggression against China. At the same time, Emmanuel Macron continued to increase commercial representations to Narendra Modi.

These representations have accelerated since the cancellation of Australia’s orders for French submarines, along with the AUKUS agreement. Is France trying to sell its submarines to the Indian Navy? Maybe.

What is certain is that Narendra Modi’s visit to France, like his recent visit to the United States, will mainly serve to boost commercial exchanges of a military nature.

It is indeed no secret that India’s security priority is an accelerated development of its navy to have a greater hold on the western Indian Ocean.

This positioning is of great importance for India which, according to IMF projections, could become the third largest economy in the world by 2050. It is also very strategic for countries that do not want to fully enter a bipolar dichotomy between the United States and China.

Indeed, the Indian-style middle path could quickly become a highly influential pole of global geopolitics, thus giving real substance to the notion of multipolarity.

And it is clear that a certain number of countries may consider that their sovereign interests are better defended in a rapprochement with the Indian labor power.

Moreover, this seems to be the view of Emmanuel Macron. And Maurice in all this? Let’s just say that all this is not small for us because France and India are historically our two strategic partners. And the consequences of a France/India rapprochement could have long-term and significant consequences for our own foreign policy.

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