The Capitals: Delhi’s ‘defence’ march with Paris, Kyiv fails its NATO admission for now, and more

About 107 years ago in 1916, 15 years before New Delhi arrived on global map as India’s capital — that too under British imperial rule — the Indian troops marched down Champs-Elysee avenue in Paris after a decisive fight against German forces during first world war. Thousands of Indians, albeit while serving the British imperial army, laid their lives on French land and those ultimate sacrifices reverberated this week in the French capital during its National Day celebrations in which India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Guest of Honour.

French President Emmanuel Macron meets India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris during Bastille Day Celebrations on July 14, 2023 | @EmmanuelMacron/Twitter

Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron watched French and Indian soldiers march down the tree-lined Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, while French-made Rafale fighter jets India bought in 2015 took part in a fly-past over the Arc de Triomphe.

Hailing defence as an important pillar of India-France ties, Modi said: “We will now focus on co-production and co-development for fighter jets and submarines, not just for India but also for other friendly countries.”

France has been one of India’s closest partners in Europe for decades. It was the only Western nation not to impose sanctions on New Delhi after India conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

The Paris-New Delhi bonhomie dominated the news cycle this week. 

Read this and more in The Capitals this week. 

Jakarta, Indonesia

Sporting fancy shirts, the Asian ‘homies’ met in Jakarta in a collective albeit indirect show of resistance against China’s maritime assertion in the South China Sea. But worldwide, the spotlight was put on the reiteration of the condemnation of ongoing violence in Myanmar, and its collective condemnation by Southeast Asian foreign ministers. 

But since top diplomats from China, the United States and Russia were among those who joined Association of South East Asian Nations’ Regional Forum (ARF), the broad-based agendas were hijacked by geopolitical flare-ups, consisting of a theatre for rebukes and diplomatic squabbles.

Myanmar, one of the bloc’s 10 members, has been beset by fighting since the military seized power in early 2021 before unleashing a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy opponents.

Islamabad, Pakistan

New Delhi in the past has accused Pakistan of harbouring an Ivy League of terrorists. India’s foreign minister Dr S. Jaishankar last month addressed his Pakistani counterpart as ‘spokesperson and justifier of a terrorism industry’.

New Delhi could now add cautious-praiser-of-terrorism phrase for Pakistan in its vocabulary to slam Islamabad’s credentials of exporting terrorism across Indian borders.

Islamabad came up with a ‘cautious’ praise for Kabul’s Taliban’s rulers, who have been described as constituents of a regime that harbours terrorism.

Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative on Afghanistan, told Voice of America that Afghanistan’s interim rulers recently initiated certain steps to address Pakistan’s cross-border terror concerns.

“It’s a serious issue. But steps are being taken to neutralise the TTP. We should also understand that it will take a while, but the process has been initiated,” Durrani said in response to a recent Taliban announcement that TTP militants were being moved away from Afghan areas bordering Pakistan.

“That is a step the Afghan government is taking, so we have to wait and see the results. It is now in the initial stages, so it would be too early to comment,” said the envoy. “But if this relocation of the TTP can actually happen and lead to peace along our borders, it would be a significant development and we would welcome it.”

Vilnius, Lithuania

Before Russian President Vladimir Putin announced war on Ukraine in February 2022, Russia’s land border with US-led NATO ran up to 754 miles. Today, it stands at 1,584 miles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had hoped, as NATO leaders met for a summit at a former Soviet Republic’s capital, for an additional expansion of Russia’s land borders with NATO nations with Ukraine making up for the latest addition. It did not happen.

As the alliance meet furthered in Vilnius, an image of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky feeling solitary amid a sea of NATO leaders made way for a caption game on social media, an eerie reflection that his demands weren’t met. 

“We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met,” the NATO declaration said.

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