NEW DELHI (AFP) — France is counting on India's traditional non-alignment to sell New Delhi fighter aircraft and nuclear reactors amid stiff competition from Moscow and in particular Washington, officials say.
President Nicolas Sarkozy left India on Saturday night after sending a "clear message to the Indians," a presidential adviser said.
"He told them, 'choose French civilian nuclear equipment to be independent of the Americans'."
Dassault Aviation put forward the same argument to sell its Rafale fighters, which have yet to be exported outside France.
"We have always been on the side of India. Our markets are countries which want to be independent from the United States, which want to have two sources," said Dassault president and CEO Charles Edelstenne.
France and India strengthened their decade-old "strategic partnership" during Sarkozy's two-day visit, notably with a framework nuclear deal for the sale of French reactors.
Sarkozy has called for an exception to be made for India, which has been under US-led nuclear sanctions since testing in 1998 but has steadfastly refused to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. France pointedly did not impose sanctions.
New Delhi struck a historic nuclear deal with the United States in 2006, but neither the US nor the French agreement can be implemented until the International Atomic Energy Agency and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group give a green light for India to enter the global atomic energy market.
That would see India open civil nuclear installations to international monitoring in return for fuel and reactors.
The French nuclear energy group Areva estimates that India will need 25 to 30 nuclear reactors.
But the deal with Washington has upset the coalition government's communist allies in a nation which defined non-alignment during the Cold War.
In the name of national sovereignty the communists are threatening to bring down Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government if the US accord is implemented.
Nonetheless US companies have launched an offensive to sell fighter aircraft to India, which has put out a 10-billion-dollar tender that closes in March to purchase 126 aircraft.
US giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin are promoting their F-18 and F-16 aircraft respectively, alongside the European Eurofighter Typhoon, Russia's MiG-29 and the Gripen, made by Sweden's Saab.
"We will make a better offer than the Americans," boasted François Dupont, director of French defence firm Thales, which is associating with Dassault for the Rafale bid.
The Indians have "too much Russian equipment and I don't see them (putting themselves) in the hands of the Americans. We have a chance," Dupont told AFP.
France is India's third largest arms supplier behind Russia and Israel in a tough market which holds the promise of 30 billion dollars in contracts by 2012.
Negotiations are due to start with French firms to modernise India's 51 Mirage-2000 jets at a cost of up to 1.5 billion dollars.
Dassault's Edlestenne sees the Rafale as a natural choice for India's next generation fighter.
"We have supplied the IAF (Indian Air Force) for more than 50 years. They are happy with our planes. On merit, we have the right plane for the Indian defence," he said.
But Edelstenne is fully aware of New Delhi's warming relations with Washington.
"Will India continue to want to be an independent country? Do they want to maintain their former policy? Will there be a change in Indian diplomacy and policy? I don't know," he said.
For retired Indian Air Force chief N.K. Sareen: "India must keep all its options open. We must also keep in mind they (France) stood by us in 1998," when Washington led calls for nuclear sanctions.
"The 1998 sanctions have stuck in Indian throats," said one industrialist, who asked not to be named. "An American plane will not carry their atomic bomb."
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