Bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron were held on February 17, 2026 in Mumbai. The meeting was held on the sidelines of AI Impact Summit that is being held in New Delhi from February 16 to February 20. This is President Macron’s 4th visit to India, following Prime Minister Modi’s visit to France in February 2025. Both India and France agreed to deepen cooperation across defence, AI, nuclear energy, climate action, space and global governance. The highlight of the announcement was the decision to elevate the existing ‘strategic partnership’, launched in 1998, to a ‘special global strategic partnership’.
India and France announced an annual Foreign Ministers Comprehensive Dialouge to track global challenges, progress across economic security and people-to-people ties. The dialouge was centered around the defence cooperation, they agreed to intensify co-design, co-development and co-production of advanced defence platforms. Another highlight was the contract for 26 Rafale Marine Fighter jets for Indian Navy. Along with this, several facilities were inaugurated like, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility for LEAP (Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion) and M-88 engines, a joint venture with Bharat Electronics Limited to manufacture HAMMER missiles in India and the H125 helicopter Final Assembly Line, a first-of-its-kind private sector helicopter manufacturing facility in India, backed by Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus.
There were developments in submarine, space and cyber security cooperation as well. A sixth Kalvari-class submarine will be delivered to India by France earlier this year. Ties between ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and CNES (France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) will be strengthened to step up collaboration on sovereign access to space. India will participate in France’s International Space Summit in July 2026. AI was the defining theme of French President’s visit. Both countries aim to bridge the global AI divide while simultaneously addressing the risks associated with it.
President Macron lauded India’s reforms to allow private investment in the nuclear sector, which will help India achieve its ambition to reach 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047. Both India and France agreed to enhance cooperation in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs). PM Modi accepted the invitation from President Macron to attend the G7 Summit this year in France. France also supported for India’s permanent seat in United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Both nations discussed limiting the use in cases of mass atrocities.
