India and France concluded nine documents, including a broad roadmap for defence industrial partnership, and made seven key announcements, including the operationalisation of the 5-year Schengen visa scheme for Indian alumni in France, during French president Emmanuel Macron’s just concluded visit.
President Macron was in India for a 40-hour state visit, which saw a roadshow in Jaipur followed by him being the chief guest to the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi. He held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which saw the conclusion of several areas of cooperation, as per the Ministry of External Affairs.
The bilateral talks saw an agreement on a roadmap for the India-France defence industrial partnership and a letter of intent between the defence ministry and its French counterpart for a partnership in space defence.
During the visit, Tata group and Airbus agreed to cooperate on setting up an assembly line for the H125 helicopters in India. The assembly line would be India’s first manufacturing line for helicopters in the private sector, as reported by ThePrint earlier.
The visit also saw an MoU signed between NewSpace India and Arianespace S.A.S in the field of space cooperation.
Other key documents concluded during Macron’s visit include cooperation in the funding of research projects between the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), France and agreements on cooperation in health and medicine, agriculture, civil service transformation and sustainable urban development
Macron’s state-visit also saw the two countries agree to declare 2026 as the “India-France Year of Innovation”.
The two leaders announced the operationalisation of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at the Eiffel Tower. PM Modi had announced that UPI payments at the Eiffel Tower would soon be possible during his visit to France in July 2023.
The two countries also agreed to set up a solar academy in the Republic of Senegal under the aegis of the International Solar Alliance – an alliance conceptualised by India and France on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015.
India will also establish a new consulate in Marseille, while France will establish a new French bureau in Hyderabad.
In Jaipur, Macron had announced the ambitious target of welcoming 30,000 Indian students in France by 2030 on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). To help increase the popularity of France as a destination for education, Macron announced a 5-year Schengen Visa for Indian students who completed Masters degree in France.
Furthermore, the two sides also announced a Young Professional Scheme under Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement. Lastly India announced its support to France for the UN Ocean Conference to be organised in Nice in 2025.