The two countries also unveiled a partnership on advanced modular reactors (AMRs) and small modular reactors (SMRs), a civil nuclear energy sector that has been in focus as nations try to meet the needs of energy-guzzling AI data centres, and other steps to bolster civil nuclear cooperation.
The India-France road map on AI will focus on the “development of safe, open, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence”, according to a joint statement. The India-France Declaration on Artificial Intelligence, one of the key outcomes of the Modi-Macron meeting, said the two countries will focus on AI norms and standards that “reflect democratic values, and harness the technology for common good”.
Modi and Macron held talks on Tuesday evening while flying in the French presidential aircraft to Marseille from Paris, where they co-chaired the AI Action Summit. The leaders continued their discussions over a dinner hosted by Macron in the port city in southern France. Besides reviewing progress in key sectors such as defence, space and civil nuclear cooperation, the leaders focused on cooperation in new fields such as AI and innovation.
With India preparing to host the next AI Summit this year and the two countries set to observe 2026 as the Year of Innovation, the bilateral strategic partnership is entering a new era focused on innovation, science and technology, foreign secretary Vikram Misri told a media briefing in Marseille.
The bilateral steps outlined by India and France build on their approach at Wednesday’s AI Summit, where Modi and Macron backed global efforts to create governance and standards for AI, as well as fair and open access with focus on quality data.
The joint declaration, which identified priorities and areas of cooperation, said India and France will build a framework to ensure AI is developed in compliance with legal frameworks on intellectual property rights and privacy, while preventing discrimination and inequality or dissemination of disinformation.
The two sides will focus on development of free and open resources for all countries to “promote decentralisation and avoid concentration” of the technology, and ensure safe and trusted development of AI by economic and market players, particularly data for models and transparent rules. Besides, they will work to build an efficient and inclusive governance framework for secure and ethical AI use.
As part of these efforts, India and France will foster industrial partnerships, such as in computing capacities, deepen research partnerships for developing open and freely reusable large language models (LLMs), encourage civil society initiatives on AI, establish a stronger cooperation on child safety online, and support the emergence of digital public infrastructure for AI by developing common resources in data, personal data protection and open source tools.
With civil nuclear cooperation a key pillar of the bilateral strategic partnership, India and France finalised a declaration of intent on a partnership on AMRs and SMRs. There has been renewed interest in India’s nuclear energy sector by major players such as France following the government’s recent move to amend the Atomic Energy Act and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act and the allocation of ₹20,000 crore in the 2025-26 budget for research and development of SMRs.
Misri told the media briefing that the two sides will collaborate in jointly designing, developing and producing SMRs and AMRS and also cooperate in training researchers and professionals in civil nuclear energy. Though the technology is still in its initial stages, such cooperation can help India leverage the existing industrial ecosystem for nuclear components and power plants, he said.
Noting that AI “essentially means electricity”, Misri said, “The amount of electricity that will be needed, if it is going to be sustainable, then it has to be something like nuclear power-driven electricity. And that is the area in which SMRs and AMRs can play a key role.”
Other key outcomes in civil nuclear cooperation included an agreement between India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and France’s Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CAE) for cooperation between India’s Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) and France’s Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology (INSTN).
Modi and Macron “stressed that nuclear energy is an essential part of the energy mix for strengthening energy security and transitioning towards a low-carbon economy”, the joint statement said.
There was also an agreement between India’s Department of Science and Technology and France’s Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA) on setting up a centre for digital sciences, and an agreement for 10 Indian startups, mostly focused on AI, to be hosted at France’s Station F, the world’s largest startup campus.
With an eye on China’s expanding footprint in the Indo-Pacific, the two sides reached an understanding on “triangular development cooperation”. Misri said this will allow India and France to leverage their capabilities in terms of financial support or technical collaboration to implement projects in third countries across the Indo-Pacific.
“The choice of projects will be driven by host countries…these are demand-driven initiatives and not supply-driven initiatives. We feel that it is important for…our partners to have choices with regard to development cooperation pathways,” he said.
India and France will identify and implement projects focused on the sustainable development goals and climate in priority sectors such as digital public infrastructure, clean energy, green technologies, education and health.
In this context, Modi and Macron reviewed India and France’s trilateral cooperation with Australia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including joint and multilateral military exercises. They directed officials to work with counterparts from Australia and the UAE to identify projects for trilateral cooperation in economy, innovation, health, renewable energy and the maritime domain.
Modi and Macron also discussed global issues, including the situation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. “They agreed to pursue their efforts to coordinate and remain closely engaged on a regular basis,” the joint statement said.