Overview
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron jointly inaugurated the three‑day Bharat Innovates conclave in Nice on Sunday, a showcase that brings more than 120 Indian deep‑tech startups and multiple research institutes to meet global investors and industry partners.
- Their bilateral talks produced a package of outcomes reported to include a joint AI working group, an India‑France Innovation Roadmap 2030, a high‑level mechanism to double bilateral trade within five years, and plans to expand India’s UPI payments system at Paris airport and in Nice.
- Modi used the event to pitch India’s shift from technology adopter to technology provider and met venture capitalists and founders, including Ritesh Agarwal and Ronnie Screwvala, to link Indian startups with European capital and partnerships.
- Macron framed the partnership as a cooperation platform for cooperative AI, climate action and civil nuclear projects, including Small Modular Reactors, and both leaders signaled closer ties on space, advanced computing and skills development.
- Officials said the immediate next step is implementation: governments will now define timelines, funding and institutional arrangements for the announced roadmaps, centres of excellence and trade dialogue with effects likely to include easier payments for Indian travellers, more student and research mobility, and deeper industrial ties.