Indo-French comprehensive bilateral cooperation: A roadmap to Indo-Pacific partnership and beyond

Subject and purpose of work: The purpose of this research is to the assess the Indo-French bilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. The study aims to identify the main areas of cooperation between India and France. This paper assesses a roadmap for the broader strategy for the „Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership”. Materials and methods: It uses the empirical approach to know to what extent the Indo-French cooperation achieves its goal. Further, this study answers the following research questions to test a hypothesis. What kind of bilateral partnerships are the two countries shaping for deeper comprehensive cooperation? Why is the Indo-Pacific the central part of the Indo-French partnerships? India and France strategically shifted their bilateral partnership towards the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions for deeper cooperation. Results: The bilateral partnership between India and France has been tremendously accelerating for the last decade. Both the countries are better attuned in the context of Maritime Security and trade cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Conclusions: The article concludes that India and France need a deeper partnership in the IndoPacific region to accelerate trade and business in the maritime domain.