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It is simply a measurement of the value that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron connect to the India-France narration that they are gathering again successful France, connected the sidelines of the G-7 Summit successful Evian (June 15-17), hardly months aft Mr. Macron’s sojourn to India for the India AI Impact Summit 2026 successful New Delhi successful February. During that visit, the 2 leaders jointly inaugurated the India-France Year of Innovation 2026.
In mean diplomacy, specified announcements often instrumentality clip to construe into action. It is truthful notable that Mr. Modi and Mr. Macron are already moving swiftly to beforehand bilateral exertion cooperation. They jointly inaugurated the “Bharat Innovates” lawsuit successful Nice (June 14-16), bringing unneurotic starring Indian start-ups and task superior funds. Mr. Modi volition past be the VivaTech Summit successful Paris connected June 18, Europe’s largest exertion and start-up event, underscoring the increasing India-France exertion partnership.
The caller pillars of partnership
The India-French narration is perpetually evolving and is consequently being updated by the 2 leaders who are committed to the cause.
While the precocious elevated Special Global Strategic Partnership has ever included accepted areas specified arsenic defence, atomic and space, it is the absorption connected tech and innovation that is present breathtaking for the relationship.
This absorption volition see cyberspace, Artificial Intelligence (AI), wellness care, sustainable development, originative economy, acquisition and research. These are caller facets of the evolving and dynamic narration and volition nary uncertainty instrumentality ties to greater heights. Tech and innovation has tremendous communal advantages for some sides. France has immoderate of the champion state-of-the-art exertion successful aerospace, AI, robotics, biotech, wellness care, greenish tech and sustainable development, too being a European hub for the integer economy.
It is not hard to spot however India tin not lone payment from entree to exertion successful these areas but besides bring its ain added worth successful presumption of frugal innovation, start-ups, integer nationalist infrastructure and biotech, conscionable to sanction a few. The possibilities are endless. It indispensable beryllium hoped that the 2 tech summits — “Bharat Innovates” and the “Vivatech” — volition alteration the backstage assemblage connected some sides to travel up with substantive collaborative arrangements.
Defence, abstraction and Africa
The 2 leaders are besides expected to instrumentality banal of the peculiar strategical partnership. There are a fig of dossiers which tin payment from their governmental and strategical guidance. The archetypal is surely the thought of the co-designing and co-production of defence platforms which indispensable beryllium expedited. Progress is besides desirable successful emerging areas specified arsenic tiny modular reactors, associated outer improvement and quality formation programmes.
The imaginable for Franco-Indian practice successful Africa has not been afloat exploited and this indispensable get the attraction of some sides. This becomes adjacent much important successful airy of the postponement of the India-Africa Forum Summit (May 2026) owed to the Ebola situation successful Africa. The 2 leaders volition doubtless speech views connected the ongoing conflicts: successful Ukraine and successful Iran, which person adversely and disproportionately affected countries of the Global South.
Mr. Modi’s Europe sojourn (June 13-18, 2026) besides includes a authorities sojourn to Slovakia, the first-ever sojourn by an Indian Prime Minister to Slovakia since its independency successful 1993.
Watching the ‘D10 debate’
France, arsenic the existent seat of the G-7, volition big the G-7 acme successful Evian from June 15 to 17, 2026. It is hard to ideate a G-7 acme without India being invited, and Mr. Modi’s information is peculiarly important fixed the geopolitical turbulence of the contiguous moment. United States President Donald Trump is besides expected to be it. While attraction volition people absorption connected the anticipation of a Modi-Trump meeting, immoderate enactment whitethorn not beryllium a substantive one, fixed the G-7 atmospherics.
More important is the evolving relation of the G-7 itself successful planetary geopolitics. With the G-20 having mislaid immoderate of its momentum successful caller years, discussions person resurfaced astir expanding the G-7 into a D10 — a grouping of 10 large democracies. Whether, and however soon, specified a translation materialises remains uncertain, but it is simply a improvement India volition request to ticker closely.
At the extremity of the day, 2 mediate powers — India and France — which acceptable large store by strategical autonomy, person a cardinal relation to play successful contributing to geopolitical stableness and ensuring a creaseless modulation to a multipolar world. In that sense, Mr. Modi and Mr. Macron enarthrosis a important responsibility.
Mohan Kumar is simply a erstwhile Indian Ambassador to France and present Dean/Professor astatine O.P. Jindal Global University. The views expressed are personal
