Prima della visita di Bush, Chirac preme per gli interessi francesi in India

Francia, India, Usa., nucleare Wsws 06-02-28

Prima della visita di Bush, Chirac preme per gli
interessi francesi in India
Sarath Kumara

  • Frazioni importanti del governo guidato dal partito
    del Congresso indiano e le elite al potere spingono per una più stretta
    alleanza strategica ed economica con gli USA anziché con la Francia o altre
    grandi potenze.
  • Presenti però
    in India posizioni critiche che vogliono tenere aperte altre opzioni, Cina e
    Russia, ma anche le potenze europee, per parare un’eccessiva ingerenza di
    Washington.
  • Mentre
    danno via libera al nucleare indiano, con l’appoggio della Francia e dell’India
    gli USA stanno preparando misure contro l’Iran.
  • La visita di Chirac la scorsa settimana in
    India evidenzia la crescente competizione delle potenze per l’influenza su
    Delhi.
  • Chirac è stato accompagnato dai ministri di
    Esteri, Difesa, Finanza e industria, Commercio
    estero e turismo; + 30 CEO dei maggiori gruppi francesi à Firmati 9 accordi, e una dichiarazione sull’uso
    pacifico dell’energia nucleare. L’accordo sulla Difesa amplia gli accordi in
    atto su industria e ricerca militari, manovre militari congiunte, scambio di esperti
    e addestramento militare.
  • L’obiettivo più importante a cui mira la
    Francia sono le 30 centrali nucleari necessarie all’India, con commesse per Areva, il maggior costruttore
    di reattori nucleari.
  • Solo l’1,7%
    dell’energia necessaria all’India, 5° maggior consumatore mondiale, è prodotta
    dal nucleare.
  • Chirac vanta come superore a quella americana la
    tecnologia francese; inoltre non ci sarebbe il rischio di un blocco da parte
    del parlamento come per gli USA.
  • Il
    presidente dell’agenzia atomica indiana, contrario all’accordo con gli USA, ha
    firmato un contratto con la Francia, la quale pone restrizioni minime all’industria
    nucleare indiana.
  • Il maggior
    contratto siglato è quello con Airbus, in competizione con Boeing: 43
    aerei passeggeri per $2,5MD.
  • $270mn. un contratto tra la società Kingfisher Airlines e ATR per 15 aerei;
  • nel 2005 l’India
    ha ordinato 6 sottomarini da guerra; ora la Francia sta cercando di venderle il
    suo aereo da combattimento multi funzione.
  • India e
    Francia intendono raddoppiare gli scambi commerciali bilaterali, attualmente $4,2MD,
    entro i prossimi 5 anni; ed aumentare gli FDI francesi, per giungere a $1MD nei
    prossimi 3 anni.
  • Speranza
    di investimenti in infrastrutture, IT, farmaceutica, ambiente, tecnologie, industria
    alimentare, auto e aeronautica.
  • Nel 1998 la Francia non condannò i test militari
    indiani, (per i quali vennero decise sanzioni internazionali contro India e
    Pakistan, sostanzialmente eliminate da quando Washington ha cercato un più
    stretto legame) e appoggia la richiesta dell’India per un seggio permanente nel
    C.d.S.
  • L’India cercò l’appoggio francese per
    eliminare le restanti limitazioni all’industria nucleare, ma la Francia non è
    in grado di fornire tecnologia o combustibile nucleare senza entrare in
    conflitto diretto con gli USA; Parigi ha più volte assicurato che intende agire
    all’interno del NSG.

Wsws 06-02-28

Ahead of
Bush’s visit, Chirac pushes French interests in India

By Sarath Kumara

A three-day visit by French President
Jacques Chirac to India last
week highlighted the growing competition of the major powers for influence in New Delhi
. Chirac’s trip is to be followed by this week’s visit to South Asia
by US President George Bush, who, like his French counterpart, is seeking to
cement economic and strategic ties, particularly with India.

Underlining the significance of the
trip, Chirac was accompanied by a high-profile delegation that included the
French ministers for foreign affairs, defence, finance and industry, foreign
trade and tourism. Around 30 CEOs from top French corporations came along

to seek out business opportunities in India,
which is second only to China
as the world’s largest cheap labour platform.

On the eve of his trip, Chirac
recalled the decommissioned French aircraft carrier Clemenceau to French
waters. The warship, which was to be broken up in an Indian shipyard, has been
at the centre of a long-running legal and political battle
over health and
environmental dangers. Its rapid recall, following an adverse decision in France’s
highest court, served to remove a potential source of embarrassment during
Chirac’s trip.

Chirac’s visit always ran the risk of
being overshadowed by that of Bush. But he was keen to boost economic ties and
to strengthen relations with New Delhi.
He no doubt emphasised France’s record
in not condemning India after its 1998 nuclear tests and, unlike the US,
supporting New Delhi’s ambition to obtain a permanent seat on the UN Security
Council
.

Following the trip, France’s ambassador Dominique
Girard played up the outcome, declaring: “Our two nations now more than ever
before have a major responsibility in relation to the rest of the international
community and the promotion of peace and development. The strategic partnership
that they have forged with one another must be based on sound and coordinated
defence systems”.

In contrast, the Indian reception was
somewhat cooler
. Francois Gautier, a columnist for the Indian web site
rediff.com, noted: “An official of the French embassy, who prefers to remain
anonymous, has told me that they have literally had to run after the external
affairs ministry for Chirac’s program.” New Delhi, it seems, did not want to send the
wrong signal to the Bush administration by courting France, one of Washington’s main
European rivals, too closely.

Nevertheless, nine agreements were
signed in the course of Chirac’s visit, including on defence and a
declaration on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The defence agreement
expanded existing arrangements in military
industries, research, joint
exercises, professional exchanges and training. Nuclear cooperation was,
however, a high priority for both sides.

India is not a signatory to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is forbidden ready access to nuclear
technology by the 45-member Nuclear Supply Group (NSG).
Moreover, India
and Pakistan
were subjected to further international sanctions after both tested nuclear
weapons in 1998.
These barriers have been substantially diluted as Washington
has sought to establish closer ties with New Delhi
.

India was seeking French support for the removal of remaining restraints
on the Indian nuclear industry
. France is not, however, in a position to unilaterally
supply nuclear fuel or technology to India
without coming into conflict with the US.
Paris has repeatedly
declared that it will act only through the NSG
, where a unanimous vote—that
is including Washington’s—is required for any decision.

With Bush due to sign a nuclear
agreement with India during
his visit, Chirac was
certainly keen to position France
to become a major provider of nuclear technology to India. A representative of
the French Atomic Energy Commission, who accompanied Chirac, estimated that India requires 30 nuclear power plants. Paris
wants a major share for the French corporation Areva
, the world’s biggest maker of nuclear reactors, in what promises to be a
multi-billion dollar market.

Chirac enthusiastically declared that India needed nuclear power technology “in order
to drive and fuel India’s
economic development” and to prevent the country from becoming “an enormous
polluting chimney” for greenhouse gases. He emphasised France’s advantages, stating: “Our
American friends are not competitive… French technology is a lot more advanced”.
Chirac asserted that France
would be more reliable, saying: “The French solution is without risk because it
is not subject to the hazards of the American Congress”.

Unlike the proposed US-India
agreement, which is still a matter of debate in Indian ruling circles,
the France-India package places minimal restrictions on India’s
nuclear industry
. Washington is insisting
on the separation of India’s
civilian and military nuclear facilities, while the French agreement commits New Delhi only to
“appropriate safeguards”. Significantly,
Indian Atomic Energy chairman Anil Kakodkar, who has opposed the India-US
nuclear agreement, signed the deal with France.

At a joint press conference, Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared: “We appreciate France’s support for the ongoing effort to
enable full civilian nuclear energy co-operation between India and the international
community”. India
is the
world’s fifth largest energy
consumer
and its demand is expanding. Currently only 1.7 percent of its energy requirements come from nuclear
power.

While New Delhi is anxious to expand its nuclear
power industry, its domestic supplies of uranium are inadequate to provide
for an expanded civilian requirement as well as its military weapons program
.
By gaining access to international supplies of nuclear fuel, India
is seeking to release its own uranium ore for military purposes as well as to
gain access to more advanced nuclear technology to augment both military and
civilian programs.

The American and French nuclear
agreements with India
highlight the utter hypocrisy of all three countries in the current controversy
over Iran’s
nuclear programs.
Unlike India,
which refused to sign the NPT and has built and tested nuclear weapons, Iran is an NPT
signatory and insists only on its right under the treaty to engage in uranium
enrichment. While giving the
green light to Indian nuclear programs, the US
with the backing of France
and India is preparing
punitive measures against Iran.

A major aspect of Chirac’s visit was
closer economic relations. New Delhi and
Paris agreed to double bilateral trade, which currently stand at $US4.2
billion, over the next five years and to boost the inflow of French direct investment
to $1 billion in the next three years.
The French delegation expressed
interest in investing in diverse areas, including infrastructure, IT,
pharmaceuticals, environment, advanced and new technologies, food processing,
automobiles and aeronautics
.

The
most important commercial deal was with Airbus.
The European aircraft manufacturer, which faces fierce competition
from Boeing, secured an agreement to sell 43 passenger planes worth $US2.5
billion to India.
Noel Forgeard, chief executive of the EADS European defence
group, which owns 80 percent of Airbus, described the deal as “a great achievement”
.

Chirac
also finalised a $270 million deal with India’s Kingfisher Airlines and the
French company ATR for 15 aircraft. India
ordered six attack submarines from France
last year and France
is trying to sell its multi-role fighter to the Indian military.

Relations
between France and India are not
without tension
. One source of conflict is a
take-over bid by Indian-born Lakshmi Mittal for the major European steel
producer Arcelor, which has provoked sharp opposition in France. If the
bid were successful, Mittal Steel would control 10 percent of world steel
output. Indian commerce minister Kamal Nath has protested to EU trade
commissioner Peter Mandelson over the obstacles to the deal.

While Chirac was in France, six
Sikh leaders published an appeal calling on him to revoke the French
“headscarf” law
. The 2004 legislation, which was aimed at whipping up
anti-Muslim sentiment in France,
also discriminates against others, including Sikh men who are obliged to wear a
turban. Several Sikh students have been expelled from French public schools for
doing so.

Following Chirac’s visit, one thing is
clear: for all the fine words on both sides, no firm partnership
has been reached. Significant
sections of the Congress-led government and the Indian ruling elite are pushing
for a close strategic and economic alliance with the US,
rather than France
and other major powers.
Their critics, however, are
concerned about the danger to Indian interests of Washington’s
reckless militarism and want to keep other options open—including with China and Russia as well as the European
powers.

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