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France committed to strengthening ties with India: Brajesh Mishra

Ranvir Nayar in Paris

President Jacques Chirac of France has reaffirmed his personal and continued commitment to the ongoing process of strengthening bilateral ties with India. Chirac conveyed this at a 40-minute long meeting on Tuesday with Brajesh Mishra, the national security adviser and special envoy of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Mishra was in Paris, accompanied by a high level delegation, for the fourth round of the strategic dialogue between India and France. "On every occasion that I have visited Paris, I have had the privilege of meeting President Chirac, who has taken a lot of personal interest in ensuring that the process of strengthening Indo-French relations continues to gain momentum," Mishra told rediff.com in an exclusive interview at the end of his visit to France.

Mishra said during the meeting, the President expressed his appreciation of the progress being made through the strategic dialogue for which he has also nominated Gerard Ererra as his special envoy. It was during Chirac's visit to New Delhi in January 1998 that the idea of conducting such a dialogue was discussed between the two countries. The idea received another boost during the visit of Vajpayee to France in September 1998 and the first round of the dialogue was held in October 1998.

Mishra says at the end of four rounds, the strategic dialogue had begun to show its impact on bilateral relations. "There has been an increased understanding and deepening trust between two sides since the dialogue began. The dialogue is based on the common belief of India and France in a multi-polar world and hence has led to a widening cooperation and deepening understanding between the two countries," Mishra told rediff.com.

Among the issues that came up during the dialogue this time was nuclear non-proliferation issue.

This is the first round of strategic dialogue since the United States Senate rejected the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty last year. Mishra said the French repeated their call for India to sign the CTBT and India informed the French about the consensus building process that is currently on between various political parties in India on the issue. But Mishra added that the French continue to show the same understanding about the issue as they had displayed soon after the nuclear tests conducted by India in May 1998. "The French position is based on two points. They don't believe in imposing sanctions against India for the nuclear tests and they understand our security concerns,'' says Mishra.

Mishra also briefed the French about the Indian relations with Pakistan and the recent spurt in Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. Mishra also categorically told the French that the situation has only become worse since the military coup staged by General Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan. "We told the French that we have no evidence that General Musharraf is able or willing to control the Islamic extremist groups that operate from Pakistani soil to foment terrorism in India,'' Mishra said.

For their part, the French briefed India about the developments in the European Union, which will be under French presidency in the second half of this year. France also updated India about the situation in Kosovo, after the end of the military campaign launched by NATO forces last year. This, incidentally, remains a point of divergence between France and India. "On the principle of the whole operation, our position remains at divergence with the French position," Mishra says.

The next round of the dialogue will be held in New Delhi within the next three months, Mishra said.

EARLIER REPORT:
Brajesh Mishra in Paris for strategic talks

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