Opinion: "Armenia needs to sign a trilateral agreement with France and India"
Security of Armenia
“If Armenia manages to sign a trilateral agreement with France and India, the country’s security level will increase significantly,” said the leader of the “Republic” party and former prime minister, Aram Sargsyan.
He believes that with such a document in place, Azerbaijan “will think twice before shelling Armenia.”
According to Sargsyan, the interests of France, India, and Iran converge in the South Caucasus. It is necessary to take advantage of this opportunity without wasting time. The politician is confident that if such an agreement is signed, Armenia will “make other countries in the region envy” within five years.
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Aram Sargsyan, a politician
“It’s been almost two months since I started promoting this idea. It came about when I learned that France, India, and the UAE had signed a military cooperation agreement, similar to the one between Georgia and the US. Since then, I have been consistently advocating for Armenia to sign a military assistance agreement with France, India, and the US. Preferably with all of them at once.
If Armenia were to sign such a military-political agreement with the US, like Georgia did, we would have problems with our neighbor Iran. Iran would start creating problems both in terms of transporting weapons through its territory and in many other areas.
In such a situation, there is no better Western country for Armenia to engage with than France.
French president Macron recently visited India. He participated in events on the occasion of the country’s Independence day. I am confident that the perspective of trilateral cooperation with Armenia was discussed.
From a geopolitical point of view, the agreement is beneficial for both India, France, and Armenia. India sees its path to Europe through Iranian ports in the Persian gulf, through Armenia, and Georgia.”
“Iran also sees its only path to Europe through France. The thing is, Iran has good relations only with France among Western countries.
France becomes an important country in the region for both Iran and Armenia, which makes Turkey, Russia, and Azerbaijan nervous.
France is a part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Considering the fact that two months ago, the Chinese ambassador to Armenia stated that it is beneficial for Beijing for the “One belt, one road” to pass through Armenia, the overall picture starts to take shape.
The “One belt, one road” initiative is a transcontinental investment program aimed at developing infrastructure and economic integration of countries located along the historical Silk road. As of March 13, 2022, China has signed cooperation agreements under the “One belt, one road” initiative with 148 countries and 31 international organizations.
If a trilateral military-political agreement with France and India is signed, the country’s security cushion will instantly strengthen.
Iran has no problems with India, and it is absolutely not against India’s presence. Moreover, transit through its territory will only strengthen Iran’s economy and increase its political influence.
India has no problems with the CSTO [the Russian military bloc, of which Armenia is a member] and Russia. In my opinion, India is absolutely not against signing a trilateral document with Armenia and France in the field of security, regardless of whether Armenia is a member of the CSTO.
The problem with agreeing to sign a trilateral document lies with France. Is France willing to sign such a document considering that Armenia is still a member of the CSTO? I cannot answer this question.
But I have no doubt that the mentioned countries are interested. Therefore, the authorities of Armenia should work in this direction.”
