Technology drives India-France strategic convergence, Pg8

Key Highlights:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron met at the G-7 Summit in Evian (June 15-17, 2026).
• This meeting followed President Macron's visit to India for the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in February, where they inaugurated the India-France Year of Innovation 2026.
• The leaders jointly inaugurated the "Bharat Innovates" event in Nice, and PM Modi is set to attend the VivaTech Summit in Paris.
• The India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership is expanding its focus to include technology and innovation, alongside traditional areas like defence, nuclear, and space.

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Detailed Insights:

• The enhanced partnership emphasizes cooperation in cyberspace, Artificial Intelligence (AI), healthcare, sustainable development, and education.
• France offers advanced technology in aerospace, AI, robotics, and green tech, while India contributes with frugal innovation, startups, and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
• Discussions also covered expediting co-design and co-production of defence platforms and progress in emerging areas like Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and joint satellite development.
• Both nations aim to enhance cooperation in Africa, especially after the postponement of the India-Africa Forum Summit due to the Ebola crisis.
• The article highlights the evolving role of the G-7 and the potential expansion into a D10 grouping of major democracies, which India is closely monitoring.
• PM Modi's Europe visit also included a state visit to Slovakia, marking the first by an Indian Prime Minister since its independence.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Special Global Strategic Partnership: A comprehensive bilateral relationship between India and France covering defence, nuclear, space, and now technology.
• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): Open-source digital platforms and systems that enable public and private services, like India's UPI or Aadhaar.
• Small Modular Reactors (SMRs): Advanced nuclear reactors that are smaller, simpler, and can be manufactured and deployed more flexibly than traditional large reactors.
• D10: A proposed grouping of 10 major democracies, potentially expanding the G-7, to address global challenges.