• Home
  • About RSIS
    • Introduction
    • Building the Foundations
    • Welcome Message
    • Board of Governors
    • Staff Profiles
      • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
      • Dean’s Office
      • Management
      • Distinguished Fellows
      • Faculty and Research
      • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
      • Visiting Fellows
      • Adjunct Fellows
      • Administrative Staff
    • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
    • RSIS Endowment Fund
    • Endowed Professorships
    • Career Opportunities
    • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
    • Research Centres
      • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
      • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
      • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
      • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
      • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
    • Research Programmes
      • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
      • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
    • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
    • [email protected] Newsletter
    • Other Research
      • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
    • Graduate Programmes Office
    • Overview
    • MSc (Asian Studies)
    • MSc (International Political Economy)
    • MSc (International Relations)
    • MSc (Strategic Studies)
    • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
    • PhD Programme
    • Exchange Partners and Programmes
    • How to Apply
    • Financial Assistance
    • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
    • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
    • Alumni
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
    • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
    • SRP Executive Programme
    • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
    • RSIS Publications
      • Annual Reviews
      • Books
      • Bulletins and Newsletters
      • Commentaries
      • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
      • Commemorative / Event Reports
      • IDSS Paper
      • Interreligious Relations
      • Monographs
      • NTS Insight
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • RSIS Publications for the Year
    • Glossary of Abbreviations
    • External Publications
      • Authored Books
      • Journal Articles
      • Edited Books
      • Chapters in Edited Books
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • Op-Eds
      • External Publications for the Year
    • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
    • Great Powers
    • Sustainable Security
    • Other Resource Pages
    • Media Highlights
    • News Releases
    • Speeches
    • Vidcast Channel
    • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsis.sg
Linkedin
instagram instagram rsis.sg
RSS
  • Home
  • About RSIS
      • Introduction
      • Building the Foundations
      • Welcome Message
      • Board of Governors
      • Staff Profiles
        • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
        • Dean’s Office
        • Management
        • Distinguished Fellows
        • Faculty and Research
        • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
        • Visiting Fellows
        • Adjunct Fellows
        • Administrative Staff
      • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
      • RSIS Endowment Fund
      • Endowed Professorships
      • Career Opportunities
      • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
      • Research Centres
        • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
        • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
        • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
        • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
        • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      • Research Programmes
        • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
        • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
      • [email protected] Newsletter
      • Other Research
        • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      • Graduate Programmes Office
      • Overview
      • MSc (Asian Studies)
      • MSc (International Political Economy)
      • MSc (International Relations)
      • MSc (Strategic Studies)
      • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
      • PhD Programme
      • Exchange Partners and Programmes
      • How to Apply
      • Financial Assistance
      • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
      • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
      • Alumni
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
      • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
      • SRP Executive Programme
      • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
      • RSIS Publications
        • Annual Reviews
        • Books
        • Bulletins and Newsletters
        • Commentaries
        • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
        • Commemorative / Event Reports
        • IDSS Paper
        • Interreligious Relations
        • Monographs
        • NTS Insight
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • RSIS Publications for the Year
      • Glossary of Abbreviations
      • External Publications
        • Authored Books
        • Journal Articles
        • Edited Books
        • Chapters in Edited Books
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • Op-Eds
        • External Publications for the Year
      • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
      • Great Powers
      • Sustainable Security
      • Other Resource Pages
      • Media Highlights
      • News Releases
      • Speeches
      • Vidcast Channel
      • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
  • instagram instagram rsis.sg
Connect

Getting to RSIS

Map

Address

Nanyang Technological University
Block S4, Level B3,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798

View location on Google maps Click here for directions to RSIS

Get in Touch

    Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
    RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
    instagram instagram rsis.sg
      RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    RSIS Intranet

    S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
    Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University

    Skip to content

     
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • The French Strategy in the Indian Ocean and the Potential for Indo-French Cooperation
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • Commentaries
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • IDSS Paper
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers
    • RSIS Publications for the Year

    The French Strategy in the Indian Ocean and the Potential for Indo-French Cooperation
    Isabelle Saint-Mézard

    12 March 2015

    download pdf

    Executive Summary

    This policy report analyses the articulation between the French strategy in the Indian Ocean on the one hand and the Indo-French partnership on the other. It first highlights France’s fairly unique position, as a country claiming to be a nation of the Indian Ocean Rim. Such a claim primarily lies on the presence of the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte in the Southwest Indian Ocean. The report also underlines France’s strong military focus on the Northwest Indian Ocean, with two inter-services bases respectively located in Djibouti and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Finally, it mentions France’s renewed interest in the Eastern side of this Ocean, as part of a larger opening onto Asia. Then, looking at the Indo-French partnership, the reports suggests that India is probably the country with which France has tried to build one of its most ambitious strategic partnerships outside Europe and NATO. The Indo-French partnership has indeed been of prime importance as reflected by the nature of its four pillars of cooperation (civilian nuclear technology, space, counterterrorism and defence). However, the report shows that, while generally positive, the partnership has not yet delivered as much as expected from France’s point of view. This is especially the case regarding cooperation in the Indian Ocean. In particular, France has seen India’s growing activism in the Southwest Indian Ocean as a signal of its diminishing influence in this sub-region. Nevertheless, the reports suggests that if France and India could accommodate each other and coordinate with each other, including in the Southwest Indian Ocean, they could give a truly geopolitical content to their partnership, while substantially contributing to the security and development of the Indian Ocean region. The report proposes a series of recommendations with this general idea in mind.

    About the Author

    Dr Isabelle Saint-Mézard is a lecturer on Asian geopolitics at the French Institute of Geopolitics, University of Paris 8 Vincennes – St-Denis. Her research interests focus on strategic affairs in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region, with a special focus on India’s external relations and defence policies. She has authored various articles on these topics as well as chapters in edited books. Her latest publications include “India and Southeast Asia: Whither India’s strategic engagement with ASEAN?” in Ganguly S. (ed.), Engaging the World: India’s Foreign Policy since 1947, OUP, New Delhi, 2015.

    She collaborates with various think tanks, including the Institut Français de Relations Internationales (IFRI), Asia Centre, Paris; and Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities, New Delhi; as an associate researcher. She regularly interacts with French government bodies and teaches South Asian geopolitics at Sciences Po as well as the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco).

    Categories: Policy Reports / Conflict and Stability / Maritime Security / Africa / Europe / Global / Middle East and North Africa (MENA) / South Asia / Southeast Asia and ASEAN

    Last updated on 12/03/2015

    Executive Summary

    This policy report analyses the articulation between the French strategy in the Indian Ocean on the one hand and the Indo-French partnership on the other. It first highlights France’s fairly unique position, as a country claiming to be a nation of the Indian Ocean Rim. Such a claim primarily lies on the presence of the French overseas territories of La Reunion and Mayotte in the Southwest Indian Ocean. The report also underlines France’s strong military focus on the Northwest Indian Ocean, with two inter-services bases respectively located in Djibouti and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Finally, it mentions France’s renewed interest in the Eastern side of this Ocean, as part of a larger opening onto Asia. Then, looking at the Indo-French partnership, the reports suggests that India is probably the country with which France has tried to build one of its most ambitious strategic partnerships outside Europe and NATO. The Indo-French partnership has indeed been of prime importance as reflected by the nature of its four pillars of cooperation (civilian nuclear technology, space, counterterrorism and defence). However, the report shows that, while generally positive, the partnership has not yet delivered as much as expected from France’s point of view. This is especially the case regarding cooperation in the Indian Ocean. In particular, France has seen India’s growing activism in the Southwest Indian Ocean as a signal of its diminishing influence in this sub-region. Nevertheless, the reports suggests that if France and India could accommodate each other and coordinate with each other, including in the Southwest Indian Ocean, they could give a truly geopolitical content to their partnership, while substantially contributing to the security and development of the Indian Ocean region. The report proposes a series of recommendations with this general idea in mind.

    About the Author

    Dr Isabelle Saint-Mézard is a lecturer on Asian geopolitics at the French Institute of Geopolitics, University of Paris 8 Vincennes – St-Denis. Her research interests focus on strategic affairs in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region, with a special focus on India’s external relations and defence policies. She has authored various articles on these topics as well as chapters in edited books. Her latest publications include “India and Southeast Asia: Whither India’s strategic engagement with ASEAN?” in Ganguly S. (ed.), Engaging the World: India’s Foreign Policy since 1947, OUP, New Delhi, 2015.

    She collaborates with various think tanks, including the Institut Français de Relations Internationales (IFRI), Asia Centre, Paris; and Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities, New Delhi; as an associate researcher. She regularly interacts with French government bodies and teaches South Asian geopolitics at Sciences Po as well as the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco).

    Categories: Policy Reports / Conflict and Stability / Maritime Security

    Last updated on 12/03/2015

    Back to top

    Terms of Use | Privacy Statement
    Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
    This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
    OK
    Latest Book
    The French Strategy in the Indian Ocean and the Potential for Indo-French Cooperation

    Executive Summary

    This policy report analyses the articulation between the French strategy in the Indian Ocean on the one hand and the Indo-Fre ...
    more info