French President Emmanuel Macron’s official reception of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accused of powering the country’s authoritarian drift, has caused quite a stir among human rights activists despite the Élysée Palace’s talk of an inevitable partner.
France will host Modi for an official visit on Thursday and Friday (13-14 July), and he will be the guest of honour at the military parade on Bastille Day – marking Modi’s third visit under Macron.
“It is deeply worrying that France is celebrating the values of freedom and equality with a leader who has been widely criticised for undermining democracy in India”, said Philippe Bolopion of the NGO Human Rights Watch in an op-ed published in the French weekly L’Obs.
Since taking office in 2014, Modi has put India on an authoritarian path, according to international human rights organisations.
Press freedom suffers under the rule of India’s nationalist leader, with Reporters Without Borders ranking India 161st of 180 countries in 2023, dropping it 11 places in just one year, according to a report published in May.
“Indian journalists who are a little too critical are the target of all-out campaigns of attack and harassment”, and “Indian law, which is theoretically protective, is being used to an ever-greater extent against journalists critical of the government”, explains RSF.
These practices have also been denounced by Amnesty International, which points to the “brutal repression” of religious minorities, particularly Muslims, the arbitrary arrests of government critics and restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, among other issues.
According to the French Human Rights League (LDH), this invitation “once again sends out a catastrophic signal in terms of the negation of our democratic values”.
An ‘inevitable’ partner
Despite the questionable human rights record, France is laying out the red carpet for the leader.
In the parade, three Indian Rafale aircraft will fly over the Champs Elysées, where representatives of the Indian Armed Forces will parade among the French military under the eyes of senior French officials and the Indian delegation led by its prime minister.
While Western chancelleries used to refer to India as “the world’s largest democracy”, this mention was left out when the Elysée Palace presented the visit to the press. The French presidency prefers to cite “the inevitable nature of this partnership and this relationship” with India and its “now sizable role […] in international relations”, it said.
It is, therefore, necessary “to fully engage them to obtain results on the major global issues, all the more so in a year when India holds the presidency of the G20”, explains the Elysée.
Beyond this, France and India are linked by an important partnership in defence and energy, which Macron wishes to deepen in exchanges between civil societies, particularly in the student world.
During this visit, India is expected to commit to buying around 20 new Rafales and nuclear-powered submarines from France.
When contacted, the Elysée Palace had neither confirmed nor denied the information.
(Davide Basso | EURACTIV.fr)
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