Global gender equality: Natural next step for Indo-French ties
President Emmanuel Macron’s recent State visit as the guest of honour at India’s 75th Republic Day celebrations, closed the celebrations of 25 years of Indo-French strategic partnership on a high note. Last year, Prime Minister Modi was the guest of honour at the French National Day on July 14, 2023, a testimony to the partnership. A wide range of issues, defence pacts and agreements, from joint capabilities and manufacturing to space and technology, are seen as key highlights of the visit and an important aspect of the future of the relationship. While defence is likely to dominate the conversation, equally important are commitments made towards joint collaboration on climate-related research, more robust and inclusive multilateral frameworks and increasing trilateral partnerships in the Indo-Pacific with a focus on climate, biodiversity and resilience.
signalling to the world that there are new leaders in a fluctuating multipolar system, there lies a host of opportunities that are perhaps not as flashy as defence or tech but speak to a key demography in both countries – women. India’s Naari Shakti or women-led development might not look and sound the same as France’s Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP), but at the core, they are not very different. While gender in a singular manner might not have been a mainstay of the wide discussions between the visiting high-level French delegation and their Indian counterparts, there is an untapped potential to bring the concepts and ideals of women-led development/FFP to the areas of climate, economic development, multilateralism, emerging technology and many other spaces.
In play since 2019, France’s FFP is focused on representation and rights at home and increasing and promoting their international strategy on gender equality. France is a leader in financing global feminist organisation, pledging in 2023, 250 million euros over five years to the Support Fund for Feminist Organisations that benefits over 75 countries. As necessary as this is, France’s FPP goes beyond providing development or monetary assistance, to promoting gender equality as a fundamental principle of engagement. In France’s Indo-Pacific strategy, the first European country to have one, non-traditional security threats are identified as a priority, along with a commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the impact on them due to the climate crisis. By ensuring that their Indo-Pacific strategy is not limited to traditional hard security comprising military or defence, it indicates an opportunity to ensure that security is thought of in a much broader, whole-of-society, lens.
India commitment to promote women-led development is highlighted domestically and also raised at several international forums including through its G20 presidency and more recently at the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in early January 2024. The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration focused on enhancing economic and social empowerment, bridging digital divides, driving inclusive climate action, especially in cities and other aspects where women and equality were a key component. Moving beyond abstract concepts and ensuring that these ideas don’t remain on paper, the Indian delegation launched the “Global Good Alliance for Gender Equity and Equality” at the WEF with all forum members – a new alliance to bring together global best practices and investment in identified areas of women’s health, education and enterprise.
In the several years that my organisation has tracked global FFP commitments and debates, where countries like Sweden have rescinded the use of the terminology, we have found that a structural framework and institutional commitments to gender equality is a mainstay. Without this, no amount of well-intentioned funding will truly move the needle on gender equality or inclusivity as a whole. France is working towards this as is India and while the approaches might differ, in jointly promoting these principles, they address very real questions of representation, economic empowerment, education and opportunity, or risk and impact to marginalised and vulnerable sections of society. Delhi and Paris have already demonstrated both commitment and action, from setting up the International Solar Alliance in 2015 to the Indo-Pacific Park Partnership that is aimed at mangrove conservation in the Pacific region. In most joint communiques and statements, the intent of human-centric development remains constant.
The bilateral relationship is clearly based on interest and an unfiltered view of geopolitical and geoeconomic realities. A greater focus on gender equality speaks to that very interest, from an economic and strategic vantage point at home and globally for India and France. Under the broad umbrella of Naari Shakti meets FPP, not only do we have a lot to offer each other but jointly can bring these principles into existing agreements, projects and collaboration mechanisms – in bilateral and trilateral/multilateral spaces. With France supporting India’s membership to the International Energy Agency, and applying to co-chair Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, there is an opportunity for example to make climate multilateralism more inclusive, and to promote the representation of women in multilateral decision-making, which at present is quite low. From 1998, the Indo-French partnership has come off age, covering fields from sea to space, culture to climate and education to economics. It is time we build further on this foundation and bring in other aspects, including a convergence on gender equality with proper implementation into much-needed focus.
This article was first published by Hindustan Times on January 29, 2024.
