Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: India and France will look to further upgrade their defence, trade and technology ties as PM Narendra Modi hosts French President Emmanuel Macron for a bilateral meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday. During his three-day visit to India, Macron will also participate in the AI summit in Delhi on Thursday.Official sources said close to a dozen agreements/MoUs are likely to be signed after the bilateral meeting in areas like defence, trade, skilling, health, and supply chains. In Mumbai, the leaders will jointly inaugurate the India-France Year of Innovation which will be celebrated through 2026 in both countries, according to the ministry of external affairs. The India-France Year of Innovation and Cultural Commemoration will be held at the Gateway of India on Tuesday evening.The Indian govt had last week approved a proposal to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets under a govt-to-govt framework from France. India and France will also hold on Tuesday the 6th Annual Defence Dialogue in Bengaluru that is expected to see the renewal of their defence cooperation agreement for another 10 years. Discussions are also likely to focus on greater cooperation involving air and maritime assets, in line with the ambitious Defence Industrial Roadmap agreed to in 2024.Both leaders will also look to discuss regional and global issues, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the situation in Gaza and the Indo-Pacific region where India sees France as an indispensable partner. With uncertainty looming over Quad, the partnership with France, a resident power in the Indian Ocean, has become even more significant for India.According to Indian authorities, both leaders will hold discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation across a wide spectrum of areas as enshrined in the Horizon 2047 Roadmap that was adopted three years ago, setting the course for bilateral cooperation over the next 25 years. Macron’s participation in the AI summit in India follows his co-chairing with Modi the same summit in France last year.Both leaders had then stressed their common commitment to concrete actions to ensure that the global AI sector can drive social, economic and environmental outcomes in public interest. They are also expected to review progress on the India-France Roadmap on AI, rooted in the “philosophical convergence” in their approaches focusing on the development of safe, open, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence. The roadmap had been launched last year during Modi’s visit to France.
