French ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain.
NEW DELHI: France wants India to play a more “forceful” role in the UN Security Council on the Ukraine crisis and call a spade a spade, French ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain said on Tuesday.
“We want India on board”, said Lenain, as the UNSC discusses a draft resolution proposed by France on the humanitarian situation and civilian protection in Ukraine.
Speaking exclusively to ToI, Lenain said while France understood and respected India’s focus on autonomy, Russia’s action against Ukraine was “unprovoked aggression’’ and that France hopes India to be more “forceful’’ in the next phases of UNSC meetings. He said that India being a powerful voice in the Council, it is of “utmost importance that in the upcoming meetings its vote matches its words”.
India has so far abstained from all 6 Ukraine-related votes in various UN bodies and – while it has called for respecting the UN Charter, international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity – also refrained from condemning Russia’s “special military operation’’.
Lenain said France had kept room for dialogue with Russia, as evident from the fact that President Emmanuel Macron’s has spoken to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin 11 times in the past month or so, while defending sanctions imposed on Russia as important to ensure Russia changes its behaviour. France’s nuanced position is in line with its own strategic autonomy that has seen Macron emphasising on the need for EU to reduce its reliance on the US.
“We are like India. We are attached to our autonomy and like making decisions on our own. We fully respect and understand that India does the same. But when there is aggression, you have to call a spade a spade. We don’t think it’s a conflict between 2 countries. It’s a war of aggression by a non-democratic state against democracy without any provocation at all. There were no NATO forces in Ukraine and there was no plan to integrate Ukraine into NATO,’’ said the ambassador, adding France respects the courage displayed by the Ukrainian people and President Zelenskyy
“Many, many countries have understood that (Russian aggression). It’s clear from the overwhelming vote in the UNGA condemning Russia’s aggression. We want Indian on board,’’ said Lenain, adding that France and EU expect partners to uphold the values on which their relationships are based. France currently holds EU’s rotating presidency and remains one of India’s closest strategic partners not just in Europe but also the Indo-Pacific, where France is a resident power. He said France is not at war with Russia and that it has long-standing ties with the people of Russia.
Lenain expressed hope that the ongoing discussions in the UNSC on the resolution for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine will be able to find the “best balance’’ to garner support from as many partners as possible. This is significant as the resolution has been delayed apparently because the US wanted it to “explicitly’’ hold Russia responsible for creating the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine. While India may be tempted to vote in favour, with the government already sending relief supplies to Ukraine, its vote will probably depend on the language used in the resolution. Any effort to blame Russia alone for the crisis could again see India abstaining again.
Sharing the assessment of France about the Ukraine situation, based on Macron’s talks with Putin, Lenain said the worst was yet to come and that the conflict was likely to escalate. “This crisis will last for long and we hope India can be more forceful in its stand on Ukraine,’’ said Lenain.
Lenain said India had an important role to play in the UNSC and beyond on the Ukraine crisis despite its “strategic dependency’’ on Russia. While foreign minister S Jaishankar has said that NATO expansion, along with post-Soviet politics and Russia-West dynamics, was responsible for the crisis, Lenain emphasised there was no proposal to integrate Ukraine into NATO. The ambassador recalled that even in the 2008 NATO Bucharest summit – where NATO was said to have promised membership for Ukraine – countries like France and Germany had opposed a membership action plan (MAP) for Ukraine.
Lenain though acknowledged concerns in India that the Ukraine conflict could lead to a tighter military embrace between India and China. “I would be worried if I were an Indian policy maker,’’ said Lenain.
The ambassador said sanctions were necessary to put pressure on Russia to change its behaviour and didn’t rule out more economic measures against Russia.
Lenain also described as fake news Russian claims that Indian students were being held hostage and expressed satisfaction that India’s foreign ministry had denied these claims. Despite what’s at stake for Europe in the ongoing conflict, Lenain said that the focus will not shift away from the Indo-Pacific which is home to 1.5 million French people and where France has deployed 8,000 soldiers. France has also been pushing the EU to play a more important geopolitical role in the Indo-Pacific and is seen by India as an indispensable partner in the region.
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