Macron hails India’s digital revolution, calls it a global benchmark in AI era

French President Emmanuel Macron praised India’s digital revolution and technological leadership during his address at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi. Calling India’s transformation a “global benchmark,” Macron highlighted how digital public infrastructure has reshaped financial inclusion and governance. Referring to the India Stack model, Macron noted that India has built what no other country has — a digital identity system for 1.4 billion people, a payment platform processing 20 billion transactions monthly, and a health ecosystem issuing over 500 million digital health IDs. Speaking at Bharat Mandapam, Macron described the AI era as the beginning of a “huge acceleration” in technological change and applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for responsible and sovereign AI development. Watch for more