Marseille: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with President of France Emmanuel Macron in which they reviewed the progress in the areas of defence, space, civil nuclear corporation, health and people to people corporation. The discussions resulted in France agreeing to host Indian Startups at the French Start-up Incubator Station F. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, addressing a press conference on Wednesday, informed that PM Modi and Macron held discussions in the plane while travelling to Marseille, "These discussions on board the aircraft on several issues continued upon landing in Marseille, where the two leaders were joined by their larger delegations," Misri added. "These discussions covered the entire gamut of our deep and diverse strategic partnership. The two leaders reviewed progress in the areas of defence, in the area of space, civil nuclear corporation and in the areas of health as well as people-to-people corporation between the two sides. There is an outcome document that is being circulated for the details you can refer to that." Misri said. Both countries welcomed the inclusion of 10 Indian startups at the French Startup Incubator Station F. They also welcomed the expanded possibilities for using India's real-time payment system - Unified Payments Interface (UPI) - in France, according to a joint statement. Vikram Misri emphasised that the bilateral discussions were majorly focused on AI. "Next year 2026 has been agreed as the India- France year of innovation," Misri said. Additionally, both leaders announced the grand inauguration of the India-France Year of Innovation in New Delhi in March 2026 by launching its Logo. A letter of Intent between the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) France to establish the Indo-French Center for the Digital Sciences, according to an MEA release. Additionally, key outcomes resulted in the field of civil nuclear energy from the discussions as both leaders welcomed the first meeting of the Special Task Force on Civil Nuclear Energy. They also welcomed the signing of a letter of intent on Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) and the Implementing Agreement between India's GCNEP, DAE and France's INSTN, CEA for cooperation in the training and education of nuclear professionals, according to the joint statement. "In the area of civil nuclear energy cooperation, the two sides have concluded a declaration of intent on collaboration in co-designing, co-developing and co-producing small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors. The two sides will also be cooperating in the field of capacity building of researchers and professionals in this field. Given the coming revolution in AI and the demands that it will make on the energy vector, this particular area of cooperation and development of SMRs and AMRs is a particularly promising vector for India-France cooperation in the future," Misri said. They also renewed the MoU between the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), India and Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives of France (CAE), France concerning cooperation with the Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP). PM Modi and Macron expressed satisfaction at the ongoing collaboration in the fields of health, culture, tourism, education and people-to-people ties. They committed to further deepen engagement in the Indo-Pacific and in global forums and initiatives, the MEA release stated.
