India and France adopted a roadmap for cooperation in AI and concluded nine other agreements, including three to boost civil nuclear cooperation, as PM Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron held bilateral talks, reaffirming their strong commitment to the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Among the major takeaways was an agreement for jointly developing and producing advanced and small modular reactors that could hold the key to powering the energy-intensive AI industry in both countries. The leaders discussed regional and global issues and enhanced their Indo-Pacific partnership with an agreement for triangular cooperation to promote sustainable development in third countries in the region.
While no agreement was signed in defence, Modi and Macron welcomed cooperation in building air and maritime assets in line with the 2024 defence industrial roadmap. The leaders travelled together in the French presidential aircraft to Marseille where they held delegation-level talks, visited a war cemetery and inaugurated the Indian consulate. Macron hosted a dinner for Modi and later went to the Marseille airport to see off the Indian PM who headed to the US.
