Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron held bilateral talks on Wednesday, reviewing key areas of cooperation, including defense, space, civil nuclear collaboration, health, and people-to-people ties.
A major highlight of the discussions was France’s decision to host 10 Indian startups at its prestigious startup incubator, Station F, marking a significant boost for India-France business and technology collaboration.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, addressing a press conference on Wednesday, revealed that PM Modi and Macron engaged in discussions while traveling to Marseille. “These discussions continued upon landing, where the two leaders were joined by their respective delegations,” Misri said.
The meeting also focused on strengthening India’s real-time payment system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), in France. Both leaders welcomed the expanded opportunities for UPI integration, according to a joint statement.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerged as a key focus of the discussions, with both nations agreeing to designate 2026 as the “India-France Year of Innovation.” The initiative will be officially launched in New Delhi in March 2026 with the unveiling of its logo. Additionally, a Letter of Intent was signed between India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) and France’s Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) to establish the Indo-French Center for Digital Sciences.
In the civil nuclear sector, both leaders welcomed the first meeting of the Special Task Force on Civil Nuclear Energy. Key agreements included a Letter of Intent on Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMR), along with an implementing agreement between India’s Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) and France’s Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires (INSTN).
“The two sides have agreed to collaborate in co-designing, co-developing, and co-producing SMRs and AMRs, recognizing their potential in the evolving energy landscape,” Misri said. He emphasized that the partnership would play a crucial role in addressing future energy demands, particularly in the AI-driven technological revolution.
Additionally, India and France renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and France’s Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) for cooperation with the GCNEP.
PM Modi and Macron also expressed satisfaction with the ongoing collaboration in health, culture, tourism, education, and people-to-people ties. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepening engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and strengthening cooperation in global forums.
