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Indo-French ties to enter strategic phase

Ranvir Nayar in Paris

The Indian and French defence relations, which for long have been only commercial in nature, are now entering a strategic phase, with both the sides attaching greater importance to the bilateral ties, says Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis.

Tipnis, who has just completed a 10-day visit to France, told rediff.com in Paris at the end of his visit that the two sides have taken a decision to elevate their relationship to a higher plane, reflecting the changing world order.

As part of the growing relations, the two sides have agreed upon an exchange of instructor pilots in each other's air force training academies.

''It is something like what we do with the United States Air Force where our instructors go and teach in the US academies for two years and their instructors teach in our training establishments. If we can do the same with the French, it will be beneficial to both the sides as the exchange of ideas and experiences helps you grow,'' Tipnis told rediff.com in an exclusive interview.

The change is reflected in the fact that Tipnis was the first IAF chief to visit France since the visit of ACM Dilbag Singh in 1984. And Tipnis was clearly pleased with the close attention that his French counterpart, General Renault, had put into finalising the itinerary of his visit. ''He has taken a lot of personal interest in ensuring that I get a full picture of the operations of the French Air Force and the industry as well,'' Tipnis says.

``Both sides feel that there is a requirement that this relationship, which has only been commercial so far, can be developed into something much larger, on a large plane. That would lead to some strategic understanding of each other's interests and both the sides could benefit a lot from such an exchange,'' Tipnis says.

He adds that the strategic element of the bilateral relationship was also evident from the interest that the French took in explaining to Tipnis the role played by them in the Kosovo crisis.

''In fact, I was part of the briefings that General Renault was himself receiving from his staff for the very first time about some specific studies of the Kosovo air operation. It was a very frank and very candid briefing and a very nice experience for me personally,'' he says.

Renault also briefed Tipnis about his ideas on the restructuring of the French Air Force that he is undertaking.

The French were also keen on learning at first hand from Tipnis about the role of the Indian Air Force in the Kargil crisis and especially the performance of the Mirage aircraft in those operations, since Mirages emerged ahead of all other aircraft of the IAF fleet in accurately targeting the enemy in the difficult terrain.

That the relationship will continue to gain strength is evident from a string visits planned by both the sides. The Indian Army chief is visiting France in December for an official visit and a team of officials from the French defence ministry is also visiting New Delhi before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, dialogue will also continue on a political level with the high-level committee on defence slated to meet every quarter in Paris and New Delhi alternatively.

Besides, the two countries have also agreed to conduct secretary-level talks on a regular basis for giving direction to the growing bilateral defence and strategic relationship.

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