NEW DELHI: India and France looked to further expand their strategic partnership in a range of areas, including defence, civil nuclear cooperation, trade and technology, as President Emmanuel Macron hosted PM Modi for bilateral talks. Adoption of an innovation roadmap to deepen cooperation in critical and emerging technology, launch of an economic security dialogue, another working group for AI governance and a declaration to double bilateral trade in the next five years were among the 13 outcomes announced after the meeting.Both sides also looked to ramp up defence cooperation, consistent with India’s Make in India initiative. PM Modi and Macron focused on civil nuclear cooperation too, one of the central pillars of the partnership, taking note of India’s SHANTI Act that is expected to open up opportunities, including on small and advanced modular reactors. “The field is open for French nuclear companies to start looking at direct participation in the Indian nuclear sector or do so in participation with Indian private sector companies, whether in conventional nuclear power reactors or in more advanced small modular reactors,” said foreign secretary Vikram Misri, after the meet.
Talent and student mobility part of talks
On defence cooperation, Modi underlined the significance of co-development, co-design, co-production and co-manufacturing. “The underlying theme was that whichever defence platform we talk about… local manufacturing should be there and our cooperation should be designed while keeping this in mind,” said Misri.French ambassador Thierry Mathou had told TOI ahead of Modi’s visit to France the proposed deal for procurement of 114 Rafale fighter jets by India will align with Make in India.PM Modi and Macron discussed the situation in both West Asia and Ukraine, although details of the talks were not shared. France would like India to join the defensive coalition it is working on along with the UK to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz after the end of the conflict. India has not publicly stated its position, although it did join meetings hosted by France and UK on the issue.The two also stressed the importance of enhancing people-to-people ties, with Modi thanking Macron for the “swift operationalisation” of visa-free transit for Indian nationals at French airports. “They further discussed ways to enhance the mobility of talent and students between the two countries and expanding mutual recognition of educational qualifications,” said an Indian readout, adding that Modi invited French universities to open campuses in India under the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.According to the readout, they appreciated the continued expansion of UPI in France, as well as the signing of 19 agreements among institutions in the innovation ecosystems of both countries.“Both leaders reiterated the importance of the India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership in creating further opportunities for the …two countries and advancing international peace, stability and prosperity,” it said, adding that Modi thanked Macron for engaging India in discussions leading up to the G7 summit. Later, Modi left for Slovakia but will return to France Tuesday for the G7 summit.