- Shared vision and values – December 16, 2010 (The Statesman)
Even if millions of Indians are emotionally moved when President Obama speaks two words in Hindi or does a namaste, Paris is in many ways closer to Delhi than Washington, says Claude Arpi
- India can count on France’s support – December 6, 2010 (The New Indian Express)
The last time President Sarkozy visited India was in January 2008; he was then unmarried. Most of the coverage of his visit related to his romance with Carla Bruni and ‘his return’ to India to witness a full moon at the Taj Mahal with her. But this time there are serious diplomatic issues to be discussed between France and India, which have enjoyed an old and dependable strategic partnership, signed during Jacques Chirac’s visit to Delhi in 1998.
- Quoted on France 24 – December 6, 2010
“En moins de deux mois, les leaders de quatre membres permanents du Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies se seront ainsi rendus en Inde, souligne le journaliste et historien français Claude Arpi. C’est bien la preuve de l’importance qu’a pris le pays”, indique-t-il à France24.com
- Interview with Ranjan Mathai, Indian Ambasador in France – December 3, 2010 (Rediff.com)
President Sarkozy’s visit to India is sandwiched between the ones of Presidents Obama and Medvedev as well Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s trip to Delhi
In less than two months, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would have met four heads of nuclear States, all permanent members of the UN Security Council.
As President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni arrive in India, rediff.com Contributor Claude Arpi spoke to Ranjan Mathai, India’s ambassador to France. The interview gives a detailed panorama of Indo-French relations, covering the state of the negotiations on the nuclear deal with Areva, the ‘refitting’ of the Indian Mirages, as well as the close relations between the two countries in the domains of counterterrorism, defense, economy, education or culture. The role of India in Afghanistan or during the Climate Change negotiations is also discussed. It emerges that the strategic partnership signed during the visit of President Chirac in 1998 is blooming.
- Interview with Hervé Morin, French Defence Minister (October 2010)
Mr. Hervé Morin was born on 17 August 1961 in Pont-Audemer, Eure (Normandy). He was reelected thrice since 1998 as an MP representing the constituency of Eure. He is leader of the New Center Party. After the presidential elections of 2007, his Party became an ally of the majority (UMP Party). He was later selected by President Nicolas Sarkozy to hold the important defense portfolio.
In an exclusive interview to the Indian Defence Review, the Defence minister answers questions by Claude Arpi on Indo-French relations, in backdrop of the forthcoming visit of the French President to India in December 2010 during which several agreements are likely to be finalised.
- A Mature Partnership – Geopolitics (December 2010)
During a recent visit in Delhi, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the French Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) quoted Kautilya: “An unfailing ally is one who receives and provides help because of old bonds, friendship and generosity”.
At a Press Conference, the CDS explained that India and France not only “share similar ideals of freedom, democracy and cultural diversity”, but the two countries have also common objectives, namely “a safer world, a better managed Indian Ocean and a more stable Afghanistan”…
- Return of Sarkozy shows France’s importance to India – December 2, 2010 (IANS)
When the French president visited India in January 2008, he was unmarried. The stern Indian protocol babus did not allow him to bring Carla Bruni, his future wife – how would they seat her at official receptions, they asked. While admiring the Taj Mahal in Agra, Sarkozy wrote in the guestbook that he would return with Mrs Sarkozy-Bruni. On Dec 5, his promise will be fulfilled.
But that is not all about the relations between France and India which have enjoyed a trusted and dependable strategic partnership since 1998.
- Terror out of Africa – October 20, 2010 (The Pioneer)
But that is not all. On September 16, terrorists struck a blow to France in the far-away African state of Niger. Five French nationals and two of their African colleagues were kidnapped. Two of the French were employed by the French nuclear energy firm Areva (which will soon operate two plants in Maharashtra) and the other three by French construction company Vinci.
All five were working at an uranium mining site in North Niger in a place called Arlit. Areva gets more than 40% of its uranium supply from its mines in Niger, which incidentally is the world’s sixth largest producer of the radioactive heavy metal…
- European laws and national interests – October 13, 2010 (The New indian Express)
It started with what one could term a banal law and order incident. On July 16, in the village of Saint-Aignan in France a man who went to an ATM at night was attacked by two youngsters. The next night, the duo forced two police check-points and threatened the gendarmes present on the spot. One of them, Luigi Duquenet, a 22-year-old gypsy was charged with petty theft. The two were finally caught and while resisting, Duquenet was beaten up in ‘self-defence’ by the police. He died later that night. The next day, some 50 Romas attack the Saint-Aignan police station in retaliation against the death of Duquenet…
- Terrorism spreads to the fashion capital – September 23, 2010 (Sify.com)
Last week, I was changing trains at a metro station in Paris when, suddenly, three riot policemen ran by. Seconds later, just as I reached the platform, the policemen asked the crowd to immediately leave the station.
It was about 5:30 pm and the Opera station was crowded with people returning home after work. The police refused to give any explanation, the platform was just closed…
