PARIS: Two months after a successful trade mission to China, French President Nicolas Sarkozy heads to India this week to show that France is also interested in strong ties with Asia's third largest economy.
The state visit to India on Friday and Saturday will give Sarkozy an opportunity to discuss cooperation in developing India's civilian nuclear energy and defence contracts.
The Elysee presidential palace has described the visit as "essentially political", with Sarkozy to attend celebrations in New Delhi marking Republic Day on Saturday at the invitation of President Pratibha Patil.
"France wants to show that in Asia it has an open policy that does not limit itself to a partnership with China and that it recognizes many poles of power," said analyst Valerie Niquet.
"For France, India is one of these important poles in Asia," said Niquet, from the Paris-based French Institute for International Relations.
Sarkozy will be accompanied by business leaders keen to gain a larger share of the booming Indian market, where French goods make up less than two percent of imports, according to trade expert Olivier Louis.
Talks will touch on a nuclear cooperation agreement that has been in the works for years to allow France to supply equipment and fuel to India once it has cleared hurdles with the UN's nuclear watchdog.
India tested nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998 and, as a result, is currently banned from buying fuel for atomic reactors and related equipment.
The French deal hinges on the outcome of negotiations between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and with the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which controls the global nuclear trade.
As one of India's major arms suppliers, France is hoping to revive its bid for a 600-million-dollar (410-million-euro) helicopter contract that New Delhi cancelled in December with Eurocopter, a unit of European space giant EADS.
Indian defence sources said Eurocopter used a local go-between despite an Indian ban on middlemen in defence deals. India is to float a new tender and Eurocopter plans to bid again for the contract to supply 197 helicopters.
French energy group Suez is to sign two contracts for water and waste management worth a total of 100 million euros during the visit, a source close to negotiations said.
While the deals are expected to fall far short of the 30-billion-dollar trade bonanza signed in China, the state visit will "bring new impetus and significant depth to relations between our two democracies," said Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon earlier this month.
The latest French diplomatic foray in Asia risked being eclipsed by speculation over whether Sarkozy's new girlfriend Carla Bruni would be part of the official delegation.
Bruni, a former model turned pop singer, was quoted by the French newspaper Liberation on Tuesday as saying that she would not be accompanying Sarkozy and quashed rumours that they had secretly married.
"We hadn't really planned it," the ex-model-turned-singer said of the visit, adding that although the couple are not yet married "it is in our plans."
Other than Patil, Sarkozy is to hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani, a Hindu nationalist, and may also make a private visit to the Taj Mahal.
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