Common ground in Paris & Delhi

Partnerships on AI and small modular reactors suggest keenness in both capitals to broaden the bilateral strategic partnership

France is India’s closest strategic partner in Europe, with the desire of both sides to ensure strategic autonomy in their foreign policy a key reason for the convergence of interests in critical sectors. This is reflected in the outcomes of the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron in Marseille this week.

French President Emmanuel Macron (C-L) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C-R) pose for a family picture before the closing session of the Franco-Indian Economic Forum at the Quai d'Orsay following the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit in Paris, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Abdul Saboor / POOL / AFP) (AFP)

Two decisions at the meeting were the launch of an India-France roadmap for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the move to create a partnership for collaboration on small modular reactors (SMRs), which represent the new frontier in both atomic power and green energy. The two sides have identified their joint priorities in the field of AI and potential areas of cooperation that will allow them to work on governance and standards for open, secure and trustworthy AI. This is an attempt to build on their work at the latest AI Summit, where India and France opted for a middle way that will ensure some regulation of the disruptive technology while fostering innovation. In some ways, the partnership on SMRs too is linked to the field of AI, as the world is taking a fresh look at smaller nuclear reactors to meet the immense energy needs of AI data centres.

These moves, and others aimed at fostering closer cooperation on civil nuclear energy, science and technology, and startups, will help prepare the two countries for their plans to observe 2026 as the Year of Innovation and broaden the basket of issues that are part of their strategic partnership. A closer India-France approach to AI and nuclear energy also makes sense at a time when the US under the Trump administration is retreating from a larger role on the global stage and China remains keen on dominating technologies that have significant economic and security ramifications.

India also sees France as an important partner for its efforts to play a leading role in the Global South, which is reflected in the new agreement for the two countries to take up development cooperation projects in third countries in the Indo-Pacific, including in innovation, green energy and digitalisation. Now that the two sides have put in place the building blocks for a third way in AI that is distinct from the American and Chinese paths, they will have to ensure adequate funding and support for research and development to quickly deliver results.