Francophone and France: an Indian Perspective
A Symposium

A one day symposium on Francophone and France: an Indian Perspective was organized by the Africa Division. It was spread over two sessions. The inaugural session started with the welcome note by Prof. Girijesh Pant who formally introduced the Francophone studies program of the Centre. Prof. Ajay Dubey started the symposium by initiating the discussion on India, France and Francophone Africa partnership under globalization. Chairing this session, Prof. Balveer Arora gave prime importance to India’s interest in this triangular partnership between India, France and Francophone Africa. Navdeep Singh Suri, Joint Secretary, M.E.A, Government of India, in his keynote address, emphasized that India was willing to strengthen its ties with West Africa in several sectors like Energy and knowledge based economy with or without French support. He also pointed out that though active bilateral relations exist between India and various francophone countries yet there is a need to increase the number of diplomatic missions in these countries. According to him there was a clear signal from francophone countries to develop stronger ties with India. 

The first session started with a background presentation by Ms. Jyoti Tyagi, Doctoral Scholar. Eminent scholars took part in the round table discussion highlighting various aspects of France and Africa relations. Chairing this session Mr. Shashank called for efforts towards building up partnership between India and France in developing Francophone Africa is in the right direction. While Dr. Kusum Aggarwal (D.U.) and Prof. Borges brought out the cultural aspects of the relation between France and Africa the Ambassador of Senegal informed the participants about the strong relationship between India and Senegal. Prof. Scheichone concluded that if Africa is open in business then India should not focus too much on history but should do business with them. Dr. J.P. Sharma, (D.U.), Dr. Moosa (JMI), and Ms. Ruchita Beri (IDSA), each brought out different dimensions as to how France is an important factor in Indo-Francophone relations and how much potential exist for improving India’s relations with this region.

The second session started with the background presentation by Vidhan Pathak, Doctoral Scholar. Chairing this session, Prof. Daleep Singh expressed his concern over negligible growth in the trade between India and Francophone Africa as compared to other countries in Africa. G. Rathinavelu shared his ground experience in Francophone Africa. According to him, there is tremendous business opportunity in Francophone Africa for Indian businessmen as they want Indian technology which is affordable to them. Similarly Dr. S.N. Malakar talked about business opportunity in the form of oil exploration in West Africa; especially Chad. Dr. Suresh Kumar (D.U.) and Prof. Aparajita Biswas (Mumbai Univ.) also examined the need for developing a close relationship between India and Francophone Africa. Prof Dubey gave a new dimension to the ongoing discussion by highlighting the Diasporic issue as a window to

open larger areas of cooperation. The Indian Diaspora in Francophone Africa, very strong economically with good political influence, has aspirations to establish links with India. Francophone countries also want to use the Indian Diaspora for the same purpose. So, it is time that Indian Government should take steps in this direction.

The Symposium on the whole concluded that France has a unique relationship with Francophone Africa which is reflected in its Franc Zone making France a major player in Francophone Africa. Under Globalization, when all Francophone Countries are opening up, there is  opportunity for India to build its relations with the Francophone countries. Moreover India and France can work together in developing Francophone Africa. The symposium also suggested an International Seminar on Development and Foreign Policy issues in Francophone Africa. 

(Ajay Dubey, Centre for West Asian and African Studies, SIS)