NEW DELHI: A hug, a handshake and a pitch worth $1.5 billion. That was the texture of Sunday in Nice, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron jointly threw open ‘Bharat Innovates 2026’ — and where, hours earlier, Modi had quietly worked a room full of people who write the cheques. The message to investors was unambiguous: India is open, and it’s selling solutions, not buying them.Before the cameras rolled at the conclave, the PM sat down with global venture capitalists and Indian entrepreneurs — OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal, Ronnie Screwvala and a clutch of international investors among them. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal and principal scientific adviser Ajay Kumar Sood were in the room. “India has emerged not as a consumer of solutions but as a contributor to solutions in the world. Innovation is in India’s DNA,” Modi told the gathering, adding that the country was “innovating for a sustainable future; India is innovating for the world”.The numbers gave the rhetoric teeth. The three-day event (June 14-16) has brought together 120 deep-tech startups — culled from over 3,000 applicants — collectively sitting on 1,500-plus patents and $1.5 billion in raised capital, alongside 15 higher education institutions, the premier IITs included, and more than 500 investors and global CEOs. Organisers say nearly $20 million in fresh commitments has already been finalised or is close to being finalised.Macron, on his part, said, “India is a country of innovation. India, France have a true partnership in critical sectors like AI and climate change.” He nudged the relationship into new territory, saying there was “scope to expand bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy, including in the area of Small Modular Reactor”.PM Modi said, “Different countries trade with each other and strike strategic partnerships. But there are few relations driven by shared vision, besides shared interests. India-France is one such relationship,” listing “connection, conviction, innovation, inspiration and shared vision” as its load-bearing pillars.The Nice leg also marks the first summit between the two leaders since the ties were elevated to a ‘Special Global Strategic Partnership’ in Feb. Modi will next go to Slovakia and will be back for the G7 Summit at Evian, before closing out at VivaTech in Paris — where India will put up the show’s largest national pavilion.