Image source: topwar.ru
The current military-political situation in the world provides France with an excellent opportunity to conquer the arms market of the countries of the Indo-Pacific region and, first of all, India. Politico writes about this, analyzing Paris' sharply increased interest in India recently.
French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu will pay an official visit to India tomorrow. He is going to hold talks with the Indian leadership ahead of the likely visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to New Delhi.
Although India was once a British colony, France has been showing increased interest in this country since the 1990s. Paris is conducting joint military exercises with New Delhi, and France ranks second in the Indian market after Russia in terms of arms supplies.
The events in Ukraine may change the existing situation, since Moscow needs a large number of weapons at the front and may not comply with the deadlines for the production of weapons for export. At least, this is what the French are counting on in their far-reaching aspirations to conquer the Indian arms market.
For India itself, there is not much difference from whom to buy weapons, the main thing is its quality and effectiveness. The country is located between two hostile neighbors – Islamic Pakistan with nuclear weapons and also nuclear-armed China. Both neighboring countries have territorial claims to India, and India has claims to them. Up to the present time, Russia supplies almost half of all weapons available in India.
Of course, France has not yet openly announced its plans regarding the seizure of the arms market and the goals of Lecorgne's visit. Formally, the Defense Minister's trip aims to demonstrate Paris' desire to further strengthen relations with India. But the French Defense Ministry had previously quite openly stated that they could show the Indian authorities "European alternatives to Russian weapons."
France is currently supplying Rafale fighters to India. As India is going to upgrade its fleet of fighter jets and acquire another 100 new aircraft, Paris can expect to receive new contracts. In addition, there is a need for the construction of submarines for the Indian Navy. Moreover, France's contract with Australia, as you know, fell through after the creation of the AUKUS block.
However, Macron's ambitions are one thing, and the reality is quite another. The ability of France to increase production capacity to meet India's huge demand for weapons is in question. Moreover, if Russia is "bogged down" in the Ukrainian conflict, as is believed in Europe, then Europe itself is experiencing a severe energy crisis, which cannot but affect the industry and the state of production facilities. No one can say today how much the same Rafale will cost at new gas prices, which is used at the enterprises of the military industry of France. Will France have to move production to India, where energy resources are significantly cheaper than in today's Europe?
