SYLLABUS
GS-2: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Context: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited France and held bilateral talks with President Emmanuel Macron in Nice, where the two leaders reviewed the progress of the India–France Special Global Strategic Partnership.
Key Outcomes of the Visit
- Innovation & Technology: Adoption of India–France Innovation Roadmap 2030.
- Creation of a Joint India–France AI Working Group on AI cooperation and governance.
- Signing of 19 agreements between innovation ecosystem institutions of both countries.
- Incubation of 10 additional Indian startups at Station F, France.
- Establishment of a Centre of Digital Sciences between India’s DST and France’s INRIA.
- Establishment of an ICCR India Chair on “AI, Innovation and Culture” at Université Paris-Saclay.
- Letter of Intent between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and France’s Health Data Hub for cooperation in health data and medical research.
- Trade & Economic Cooperation: Agreement to establish a High-Level Mechanism to double bilateral trade within five years.
- Launch of a Dialogue on Economic Security.
- Agreement to strengthen supply chain resilience, particularly in critical minerals.
- Support for early implementation of the India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
- Expansion of cooperation in SMEs and the aviation sector.
- Declaration of Intent on cooperation in Railway and High-Speed Railway Development in India.
- Expansion of possibilities for using India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in France.
- Defence & Strategic Cooperation: Agreement to intensify defence cooperation through co-design, co-development, and co-productionof defence platforms and advanced technologies.
- Signing of a General Security Agreement on exchange and protection of classified information.
- Space Cooperation: Agreement to expand cooperation in human spaceflight and space situational awareness.
- Greater scope for private-sector collaboration in the space sector.
- Letter of Intent between ISRO and CNES on microgravity research and human space exploration.
- Civil Nuclear Energy: Both leaders noted that India’s SHANTI Act creates new opportunities for cooperation in small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced modular reactors (AMRs).
- Education & Skill Development: MoU to establish a National Centre of Excellence for Skilling in Aeronautics and Allied Sectors at NSTI, Kanpur.
- Efforts to enhance student mobility and mutual recognition of educational qualifications.
- Invitation to French universities to establish campuses in India under the National Education Policy (NEP).
- Cultural & People-to-People Ties: Appreciation for France’s visa-free airport transit facility for Indian nationals.
- Agreement to strengthen cooperation between museums and cultural institutions, including the National Maritime Heritage Complex.
- Promotion of cultural exchanges through the India–France Year of Innovation 2026.
- Global & Regional Issues: Exchange of views on developments in West Asia, Ukraine, and preparations for the upcoming G7 Summit.
- Reaffirmation of the importance of the India–France Special Global Strategic Partnership for global peace, stability, and prosperity.
