Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email

       Please enter a valid email address

       Please enter a valid email address

       SIGN UP

       I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice

       Thanks for signing up to the

       Inside Washington email

       {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

       France is staging a seduction campaign for visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, guest of honor at Friday's annual Bastille Day parade, with the French president calling India a “key” player “in our future.”

       France is looking to further strengthen cooperation on an array of topics ranging from climate to military sales and the strategic Indo-Pacific region. But human rights, seen as an increasingly pressing subject for Modi’s India, was missing from the vast agenda.

       President Emmanuel Macron praised India in a speech Thursday evening before French defense officials as a “key partner.”

       "It is a giant in the history of the world that will have a determining role in our future," Macron said, ahead of a dinner with Modi at the Elysee Palace. India “is also a strategic partner and friend.”

       Macron, with Modi at his side, will preside over Friday’s grandiose annual military parade to mark France’s national day. Indian troops will march and three French-made Indian Rafale jets will do a fly-by.

       Recommended Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

       As Modi arrived Thursday, India's Defense Acquisition Council approved the purchase of 26 Rafales for the Indian Navy, an accord in principle announced by the Indian Defense Ministry. The price is to be negotiated with the French, a statement said. The purchase of three Scorpene submarines, developed by France and Spain, was also approved.

       Critics have voiced concern about France giving such a perch to Modi. India's 72-year-old prime minister is widely viewed as increasingly authoritarian and his Hindu nationalist party as divisive. In a report in April, the campaign group Amnesty International said freedom of expression had declined under Modi.

       The European Parliament passed a resolution on Thursday for “human rights to be integrated into all areas of the EU-India partnership, including in trade.” The resolution called on member states “to systematically and publicly raise human rights concerns” at the highest level.

       Modi’s two-day visit comes as Paris and New Delhi mark the 25th anniversary of their strategic partnership. Crucially, it precedes Macron’s trip this month to the Indo-Pacific region, home to 1.5 million French nationals. Talks with Modi are aimed at ensuring the vast region remains a space where security, notably of the seas, and other key concerns like climate are preserved. Macron called it “an essential strategy for the balance of the planet.”

       Modi is being courted by other nations. His two-day visit to France comes on the heels of his June trip to the United States, where President Joe Biden offered Modi a lavish welcome. Modi was recently in Egypt and he is to head to the United Arab Emirates after leaving France.

       Ten personalities, including noted economist Thomas Piketty and former French ambassador to Denmark France Zimeray, implored Macron in a commentary Thursday in the newspaper Le Monde to “encourage Prime Minister Modi to end repression of the civil society, assure freedom of major media (outlets) and protect religious liberty.”

       Modi, who governs the world's largest population, rarely talks to the press at home or abroad. But responding to a human rights question at a rare news conference during his Washington trip, he said that “democracy runs in our veins” and insisted that there is ”absolutely no space for discrimination.”

       Recommended Chip maker Foxconn exits a semiconductor joint venture with Indian mining company Vedanta An Indian state court won't stay Rahul Gandhi's defamation verdict in a blow to his election hopes Armed mobs rampage through villages and push remote Indian region to the brink of civil war

       ___

       Youcef Bounab in Paris contributed to this report.

       More about Narendra Modi AP Emmanuel Macron India France Paris Joe Biden United States Amnesty International Thomas Piketty Prime Minister Rafale Spain Hindu European Parliament New Delhi Egypt United Arab Emirates Le Monde Washington

       1/ 1India's Modi is guest of honor at Paris Bastille Day parade as Macron rebuffs human rights critics

       India's Modi is guest of honor at Paris Bastille Day parade as Macron rebuffs human rights critics France India

       Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

       ？ Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article

       Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

       Subscribe

       Already subscribed? Log in