News Analysis India

Tag: France

  • Jaishankar begins 3-day visit to France; to attend EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in Indo-Pacific

    By ANI

    PARIS: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Sunday began his three-day visit to France during which he will attend EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific amid Chinese assertiveness in the region.

    During his visit, Jaishankar will hold a bilateral meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.

    Jaishankar will attend the EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific on February 22, an initiative of the French Presidency of the European Council.

    EAM will also hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from EU and other Indo-Pacific countries on the sidelines of the Forum. He will also give an address at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

    “EAM Jaishankar begins his 3-day visit to France, a key strategic partner; he will attend the EU Ministerial forum for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, hold bilateral meetings with @JY_LeDrian and @florence_parly, interact with think tanks and chair India Heads of Missions in EU Conference,” India in France wrote in a tweet.

    Meanwhile, China has formed 3,200 acres of artificial land in the South China Sea, raised an airstrip with the capacity to land fighter jets and large commercial planes, built 72 fighter-jet hangers, and commissioned 10-12 large aircraft on Fiery Cross, Subi, and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly Islands. It has made military installations in the Woody Island of the Paracel Islands.

    The construction of these artificial islands is in clear violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, of which China is also a signatory.

    This visit comes after Jaishankar participated in Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2022 in Germany and held a series of meeting with ministers from Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world.

  • Moon knight actor Gaspard Ulliel, 37, dies after ski accident

    By Associated Press

    FRANCE: French actor Gaspard Ulliel, known for appearing in Chanel perfume ads as well as film and television roles, died Wednesday after a skiing accident in the Alps, local authorities said. He was 37.

    Ulliel portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in 2007’s “Hannibal Rising” and fashion mogul Yves Saint Laurent in the 2014 biopic “Saint Laurent.” He is also in the upcoming Marvel series “Moon Knight,” and was the advertising face of the Chanel men’s fragrance Bleu de Chanel.

    While skiing Tuesday afternoon at La Rosière resort, Ulliel collided with another skier on an intermediate slope after turning left, presumably to join his friends on an adjoining slope, Anne Gaches, the Savoie prosecutor in Albertville, said in a statement Wednesday.

    Preliminary findings from an investigation indicated that “both skiers fell to the ground after the collision,” the prosecutor said.  Ulliel was “motionless and unconscious when rescuers arrived,” while the other skier was unharmed, Gaches said.

    The director of the La Rosière resort, Jean Regaldo, told BFM television that Ulliel was not wearing a helmet when rescuers arrived. Helmets are not required on French ski slopes but are strongly recommended.

    Regaldo said weather conditions were “perfect” at the time of the accident and that there were no rocks in the area of the collision, which he described as easily accessible.

    “Ulliel was transported by helicopter to Grenoble University Hospital, where doctors tried to revive him, she said. The actor was pronounced dead Wednesday shortly after 4 p.m.,” Gaches said.

    The office of the actor’s agent confirmed that Ulliel died on Wednesday.

    Ulliel started performing at age 11, alongside renowned actress Sandrine Bonnaire, and went on to win two of France’s top cinema awards, the Cesar. A dog bite on his face at age six left him with a trademark scar.

    He played a French revolutionary, a dying playwright, a vanished World War I soldier, a budding serial killer, iconic fashion designer. French President Emmanuel Macron called him “one of the incarnations of French cinema today,” and tributes poured in from shocked colleagues and fans around the world.

    “On each of his film sets, he left behind the memory of a dedicated worker, always ready to listen, respected by all the teams because he was respectful of everyone,” Macron said in a statement.

    Prime Minister Jean Castex tweeted an homage that said, “Gaspard Ulliel grew up with cinema, and cinema grew up with him. They loved each other madly.”

    The House of Chanel said in a statement it has lost its “ambassador of 12 years and a friend.”

    “We have been fortunate to have had by our side all these years a person endowed with great culture, an immense talent, and of unparalleled kindness. He will be sorely missed,” Chanel said.

    The accident conjured up memories of when Formula One great Michael Schumacher was seriously injured in a 2013 skiing accident in the French ski resort of Meribel, 50 kilometers (30 miles) from where Ulliel was skiing. Both were treated at Grenoble University Hospital.

    Schumacher, who was wearing a helmet, suffered serious head injuries when he fell and hit the right side of his head on a rock off the side of a demarcated slope. The German auto racing legend was skiing with his teenage son while on a family vacation in the Alps.

    Schumacher, 53, has not been seen in public in eight years, and his family has revealed few details of his condition since the accident. His wife, Corinna, said in a Netflix documentary last year that her husband is “different, but he is here” and that the family, including the couple’s son, Mick, now a Formula One driver himself, cares for him.

    After Ulliel’s accident, the mountain police service for the Rosiere ski area said its personnel have been carrying out five or six rescues per day as the snow hardened in recent days.

    In the neighboring Haute-Savoie region, a 5-year-old girl was killed Saturday when a skier crashed into her. The man was handed preliminary manslaughter charges, according to the Haute-Savoie prosecutor, who cited excessive speed as the likely reason for the accident.

    Funeral information was not immediately announced. French media reports say Ulliel is survived by a young son from his relationship with French model-actor Gaelle Pietri.

  • Paris Fashion Week: Catwalks to make a comeback after Covid spurred two-year hibernation

    By AFP

    PARIS: The industry is determined to get back on the catwalks after nearly two years during which most brands were forced to retreat online.

    Despite the complications caused by the pandemic, the fashion community is stepping out regardless. Most fashion houses are returning to live shows as the menswear week kicks off, followed immediately by haute couture shows.

    Some 17 of the 76 brands of the official Paris menswear calendar — including big names like Dior, Hermes, and Rick Owens — will be back on the catwalk, up from just six last summer. Nearly 30 others are opting for other types of in-person events — inviting journalists, buyers, and other taste-makers to less formal gatherings around the French capital.

    There will be a bittersweet taste to the first week, however, as Louis Vuitton presents the final collection from US designer Virgil Abloh, who died in November at the age of 41 after a private battle with cancer.

    Such is the interest around Abloh, a close partner of Kanye West who helped break through glass ceilings for black designers, that Louis Vuitton is presenting the show twice on Thursday.

    Many are also excited to see what streetwear veteran Nigo does as the new artistic director of Kenzo. And there is hype, too, around French label Egonlab, launched two years ago with a series of arty videos and now making its first foray in the official calendar.

    “To present your work alongside the big houses that greatly influenced us — it does something to you,” said co-founder Florentin Glemarec.

    Nonetheless, like many fashion newcomers, Egonlab is embracing both the live and online worlds, with a line of NFTs and Metaverse digital clothing that it is developing in partnership with footwear brand Crocs.

    ‘Caught in the crossfire’

    Haute couture designers are also returning to the catwalk, with 18 of 29 houses planning live shows — albeit with the now-common caveat that the virus might throw a last-minute spanner in the works.

    Some changes have already been announced: the Sidaction charity evening to raise money for AIDS research, which traditionally marks the end of the haute couture week, has been postponed until July.

    Giorgio Armani canceled his menswear show in Milan and haute couture show in Paris over the latest surge in Covid cases.

    That decision sparked a sense of deja-vu as it was the 87-year-old Italian maestro who was first to cancel his catwalk shows in the early days of the pandemic in February 2020.

    ALSO READ: New Covid variant in France not a worry right now: Experts

    “It’s their choice,” said Pascal Morand, head of France’s Federation for Haute Couture and Fashion.

    He said the federation makes several recommendations including the use of FFP2 masks, but he was happy to see brands returning to the live sphere.

    “We have learned to live with the virus,” he told AFP. “Digital enriches the physical, but it can’t replace the emotion and sensory side of the runway shows.”

    Some still feel uneasy about returning to in-person events. “I feel caught in the crossfire,” said Jean Paul Cauvin, director of haute couture brand Julien Fournie, who has had to deal with the disruption of positive tests among models and workshop workers.

    “We would be frustrated not to be on the catwalk, but I hope we don’t create an haute couture cluster,” he told AFP.

  • New Covid variant in France not a worry right now: Experts

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: The world grapples with a massive uptick in novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases caused by Omicron, the new variant of concern, Southern France has reported another variant and experts argue that though it’s not a worry at the moment, it’s something that needs to be watched closely.

    “It is very obvious by now that new mutations will continue to happen and there will be many variants of Omicron or any other variant which can come. Delta has 108 sub-variants. They keep on churning. It’s too early to say anything on this variant,” said Dr Vishal Rao, member, Committee for Covid-19 whole-genome sequencing.

    According to several reports, in South France at least 12 people have tested positive for the new variant, called IHU, that purportedly has “atypical combination”. Dr Vishal said initial claims from French scientists are that the IHU variant is said to have 46 mutations and 37 deletions. Taking to Twitter, Dr Vinod Scaria, senior scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, says, “A lot of discussion about B.1.640.2 reported from Southern France had been on the WHO watchlist for quite some time (Nov 2021). Index case seemingly was from Cameroon (doesn’t mean it originated there) Many of the mutations are shared with VoCs.” 

    However, Dr Scaria says though it predates Omicron, sequences have not grown rapidly. “We don’t know whether the increasing cases in South France are associated with the new variant. There is nothing to panic or worry too much at the moment, given the evidence. But clearly something that needs to be watched closely in the coming weeks.”

    Interestingly, Bengaluru’s Strand Life Sciences, a bioinformatics company has created a Covid Mutation Miner tool that makes it possible by indexing CORD-19 — a free resource of more than 280,000 scholarly articles about the novel coronavirus.

  • Rafale deal: CBI, ED have proof since 2018 over Dassault’s payment to middleman, claims French journal

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: French investigative journal Mediapart has made fresh claims that alleged bogus invoices were used that enabled French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros in secret commissions to a middleman to help it secure the Rafale deal with India.

    Mediapart had reported in July that a French judge has been appointed to lead a “highly sensitive” judicial investigation into suspected corruption and favouritism in the Rs 59,000-crore inter-governmental deal with India for the supply of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

    There was no reaction yet on the latest report from the defence ministry or Dassault Aviation.

    “Mediapart is today publishing the alleged false invoices that enabled French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros in secret commissions to a middleman to help secure the sale of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft to India,” the journal said in its new report on Sunday.

    It alleged that despite the existence of “these documents”, the Indian probe agencies decided not to pursue the matter.

    “It involves offshore companies, dubious contracts and “false” invoices. Mediapart can reveal that detectives from India’s federal police force, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), and colleagues from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which fights money laundering, have had proof since October 2018 that French aviation firm Dassault paid at least 7.5 million euros (equivalent to just under Rs 650 million) in secret commissions to middleman Sushen Gupta,” Mediapart claimed in the report.

    “This was in the context of the French firm’s long and ultimately successful attempt to secure a 7.8 billion-euro-deal in 2016 to sell 36 of its Rafale fighters to India,” it said.

    Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation and India’s defence ministry have previously trashed allegations of any corruption in the contract.

    India’s Supreme Court too in 2019 dismissed petitions seeking a probe into the deal saying there was no ground for it.

    In a statement published in April, reacting to Mediapart’s report on the investigation, Dassault Aviation stated that the group, “acts in strict compliance with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and national laws”.

    The NDA government had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016, to procure 36 Rafale jets from Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the UPA regime.

    The Congress accused the government of massive irregularities in the deal, alleging that it was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government during the negotiations for the MMRCA.

    Prior to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Congress raised several questions about the deal and alleged corruption, but the government rejected all the charges.

  • Rafale deal: Rahul Gandhi used as ‘pawn’ by rival firms, BJP alleges as Congress attacks govt

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The BJP alleged on Saturday that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is being used as a “pawn” by rival defence companies and claimed that he and his party keep raking up allegations of corruption in the Rafale deal in an attempt to “weaken” India.

    At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also played down the appointment of a judge in France to lead a judicial investigation into the alleged corruption and favouritism in the Rs 59,000 crore deal, saying the development was outcome of a complaint by an NGO and should not be seen as a matter of corruption.

    This is akin to a competent authority in India writing down in a file that “please act accordingly” when a matter is brought before him, Patra said and accused the Congress of spreading lies and misconceptions over the issue.

    The Congress has become synonymous with spreading lies and misconceptions, he said.

    “The way Rahul Gandhi is behaving, it will not be an exaggeration to say that he is being used as a pawn by competing companies. He has been lying right from the beginning on the issue.

    “Probably, he is acting as an agent or some member of Gandhi family has been for a competing company,” Patra alleged.

    The Congress has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Rafale deal, saying it is the only way forward to find the truth about “corruption” in the purchase of the fighter jets.

    The Congress’ demand came after French investigative website Mediapart reported that a French judge has been appointed to lead a “highly sensitive” judicial investigation into alleged “corruption and favouritism” in the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal with India.

    Patra cited a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report and a Supreme Court (SC) verdict, both of which had found nothing wrong in the defence deal between the Indian and French governments, to reject allegations of the Congress.

    The government won a judicial verdict as well as an electoral verdict, he said in reference to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP notched up a massive victory with the Congress making the alleged corruption in the Rafale deal as a key plank of its campaign against the Modi government.

    The BJP spokesperson noted that the Supreme Court had in its verdict in November 2019 said that there can’t be a roving and fishing enquiry pertaining to the Rafale allegations, and accused Gandhi of going on another “fishing expedition” with his party attacking the government.

    The SC had made these remarks while rejecting a plea to review its December 2018 decision to reject a plea for a court-monitored probe into the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft.

    Gandhi is trying to weaken India, Patra alleged.

    He also cited a number of allegations levelled by Gandhi, including his attributions to former French president Francois Hollande and incumbent Emmanuel Macron to back his charge of corruption against the Modi government, and noted that both French leaders had immediately denied making such comments.

    Gandhi also had to tender an apology to the Supreme Court for wrongly claiming that the top court has agreed that “chowkidar chor hai” (watchman is thief), a pet slogan of the Congress leader against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run up to the 2019 polls.

    Patra alleged that as the Gandhi family had received no commission in the Rafale deal, its party had been levelling these allegations.

    The Congress is also using the issue to diver attention from political instability hitting its governments in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, he claimed.

  • IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria leaves for France, seeks to enhance mutual cooperation

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Monday left for France, a visit billed as a “significant step” in further enhancing mutual cooperation.

    “The visit of Chief of Air Staff (CAS) from April 19-23 will enhance potential avenues for strengthening the level of interaction between the two Air Forces,” the Indian Air Force said.

    Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria is scheduled to hold talks with the senior military leadership of France and visit several operational facilities and air bases.

    “The visit of CAS will be a significant step in further enhancing mutual cooperation,” the IAF said in a statement.

    Gen Philippe Lavigne, Chief of Staff of French Air and Space Force (FASF), visited India in February last year.

    Last week, sources had said there is a possibility of Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria flagging-off a batch of five-six Rafale jets from the Merignac airbase in the French port city of Bordeaux for India.

    Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafales, was scheduled to send six Rafale aircraft to India by the end of April.

    The arrival of the new batch of the aircraft will pave the way for the IAF to raise a second squadron of the Rafale jets.

    The new squadron will be based in Hasimara air base in West Bengal.

    The first Rafale squadron is based at the Ambala air force station.

    A squadron comprises around 18 aircraft.

    India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore.

    Dassault Aviation has delivered 14 jets to the Indian Air Force so far.

    The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29 last.

    The cooperation between Indian and the French air forces have seen gradual expansion in the last few years.

    Both the air forces have been carrying out exercise series ‘Garuda’.

  • India, France and Australia to hold trilateral talks

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The foreign ministers of India, France and Australia are expected to hold a trilateral meeting on April 13 with a focus on boosting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, people familiar with the development said on Friday.

    The meeting is set to focus on exploring practical cooperation in other crucial areas such as dealing with the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic, they added.

    Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian are scheduled to visit India around April 12 to attend the Raisina Dialogue.

    India and Australia are part of the Quad or the Quadrilateral coalition, which is aimed at ensuring a free and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

    The other two members of the Quad are Japan and the US.

    The India-France-Australia trilateral will also discuss a range of areas for practical cooperation, said one of the people cited above.

  • More boost for IAF as three more Rafale jets arrive in India from France

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A fourth batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed in India on Wednesday evening after flying non-stop from France, in a further boost to the strike capability of the Indian Air Force.

    The jets were provided mid-air refuelling by air force tankers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the IAF said.

    “The 4th batch of three IAF #Rafales landed on Indian soil after a direct ferry from #IstresAirBase France,” it tweeted.

    The IAF also thanked the UAE air force for refuelling the Rafale jets, describing it as yet another milestone in the strong relationship between the two air forces.

    The IAF did not disclose the base where the Rafale jets landed.

    “Another batch of #Rafale take to the skies on non stop flight to India with mid air refueling by UAE. Indian Air power grows further,” the Indian Embassy in France tweeted earlier. With the arrival of the three jets, the size of the Rafale fleet has increased to 14.

    The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.

    The formal induction ceremony of the fleet had taken place at Ambala on September 10 last.

    A second batch of three Rafale jets arrived in India on November 3, while a third batch of another three jets joined the IAF on January 27.

    The first Rafale squadron is based in Ambala air force station.

    The Indian Air Force is set to raise the second squadron of the Rafale combat jets in mid-April and it will be based in Hasimara air base in West Bengal, according to military officials.

    India is expected to get more Rafale jets from France in the next few months.

    The Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.

    The Rafale jets are capable of carrying a range of potent weapons.

    European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.

  • India, France discuss counter-terrorism, cooperation in Indo-Pacific at strategic dialogue

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India and France discussed key issues such as counter-terrorism, maritime security and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region at their annual strategic dialogue and vowed to accord high priority to their partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.

    National Security Advisor Ajit Doval led the Indian delegation, while the French delegation was headed by Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, at the talks held on Thursday.

    At the dialogue, they reiterated their attachment to an inclusive, rules-based Indo-Pacific which contributes to a multipolar Asia in a multipolar world, the French release on the dialogue said.

    In its statement, the MEA said the two sides held discussions on a variety of issues including counter-terrorism, cyber security, defence cooperation, maritime security, regional and global issues and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

    Both sides reaffirmed the high priority they accord to the India-France strategic partnership and highlighted the convergence of views between the two countries, the MEA said.

    During his visit here, Bonne also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

    He also met Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

    “Had a productive meeting with Mr. Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Advisor to President Macron. Expressed joy at the progress in India-France Strategic Partnership, a force for global good in the post-COVID world. Reiterated the invitation to my friend @EmmanuelMacron to visit India,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted after meeting Bonne.

    The French statement said that the agenda of the strategic dialogue covered all aspects of the Indo-French strategic partnership in the Indo-Pacific and in the fields of space, defence, security, civil nuclear energy, among others.

    On each topic, the two sides noted the high degree of convergence of views and agreed on concrete steps to further enhance their cooperation, the French statement said.

    During his meetings, Bonne conveyed President Macron’s wish to further strengthen the relationship of trust and friendship between France and India in 2021.

    “Indo-French cooperation will be key to tackling global challenges in 2021, such as ensuring equal and universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, protecting climate and biodiversity, and building a renewed multilateralism,” the French statement said.

    Bonne highlighted that France will work closely with India in the UN Security Council in 2021-2022 and reiterated France’s support for India’s bid for a permanent seat, it said.