(Paris) French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on a tour of Europe, called on Wednesday for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in Ukraine.
Posted yesterday at 7:12 p.m.
“France and India have expressed their deep concern about the humanitarian crisis and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine”, underlined the two leaders in a joint statement after a meeting and a working dinner at the Elysee.
“Both countries unequivocally condemned the killing of civilians in Ukraine, and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities so that the parties come together to promote dialogue and diplomacy and to immediately end the suffering of the population. “, they added.
Only France, on the other hand, condemned “strongly the illegal and unjustified aggression of Russian forces against Ukraine”.
India, in search of a difficult balance between the West and Russia, which provides it with a large part of its needs in arms and energy, refrains from openly condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but calls for dialogue to put an end to it.
The war in Ukraine has “consequences far beyond the European Union”, including in Asia, the French presidency had underlined before the interview.
France wants to “help the Indians to diversify their supplies”, she added.
The two countries also said they were “determined to respond in a coordinated and multilateral manner to the risk of aggravation of the food crisis due to the conflict in Ukraine”, one of the world’s main producers of wheat.
Narendra Modi was making his third visit to France since 2017, while Emmanuel Macron traveled to India once in March 2018.
His tour of Europe, which took him to Berlin, Copenhagen for an India-Nordic summit and then Paris, aimed above all at strengthening bilateral partnerships, particularly in trade, energy and sustainable development.
Mr. Modi invited the French president to visit India in order to “deepen” the cooperation initiated, from defense technologies to energy transition.
The two leaders reaffirmed their desire to intensify the “French-Indian strategic partnership, particularly in the Indo-Pacific space”.
This partnership has become even more important since the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia concluded the Aukus security pact in 2021, which deprived France of a mega-submarine contract with Canberra.
It covers defense — with multiple joint exercises in the Indian Ocean — and security, trade, investment, connectivity, health and sustainable development.
New Delhi notably acquired 36 Rafale aircraft in 2016 and six Scorpene submarines, while the two countries are cooperating in civil nuclear energy, with EDF proposing to build six EPRs on the Jaitapur site.
In addition to their alliance in solar energy, the two countries wish to “strengthen their cooperation on carbon-free hydrogen […] in order to build a robust industrial partnership”.
France also intends to welcome 20,000 Indian students by 2025, “which will open up new prospects for the creation of businesses, start-ups and for innovation between the two countries”.