The visit will provide an opportunity to review the progress on the 2047 Horizon Roadmap for India-France strategic partnership, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day visit to France, during which he will co-chair the AI Action Summit in Paris, will provide him with an opportunity to review the progress on the long-term roadmap for the strategic partnership between the two nations with President Emmanuel Macron.

Prime Minister Modi, who will subsequently travel to the US, will also inaugurate the first Indian Consulate in France and visit the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project.

“The bilateral segment of my visit will provide an opportunity to review the progress on the 2047 Horizon Roadmap for India-France strategic partnership along with my friend President Macron,” Prime Minister Modi said in his departure statement as he left New Delhi on Monday (February 10, 2025).

“We will also travel to the historic French city of Marseille to inaugurate the first Indian Consulate in France and also visit the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, in which India is a member of the consortium of partner countries including France, to harness energy for the global good. I will also pay tribute to the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during World Wars I and II at the Mazargues War Cemetery,” he added.

While this will be their first meeting this year, Prime Minister Modi and President Macron met on three separate occasions in 2024, the first being in January when the French leader visited India for the Republic Day celebrations. They also met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy, and then on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Here is what to expect during the visit:
1. On Tuesday (February 11, 2025), Prime Minister Modi will co-chair the 3rd AI Action Summit along with President Macron. The first of these summits was held in the UK in 2023 and the second one in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in 2024. India is interested in AI applications that are designed, developed, deployed, and used in a safe, humane, responsible, and trustworthy manner, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said during a special media briefing in New Delhi on Friday (February 7, 2025).

2. After the AI Summit, Prime Minister and President Macron will address the India-France CEOs Forum, and they will also hold discussions in both the restricted and delegation level talks format.

3. Together with President Macron, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Marseille on Tuesday evening and attend a dinner hosted in his honour.

4. On Wednesday (February 12, 2025) the two leaders will together visit the Mazargues War Cemetery. This is a war cemetery that is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. This will be an opportunity for both leaders to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers during the First World War.

5. PM Modi and President Macron will jointly inaugurate the Consulate General of India in Marseille. This will benefit Indian nationals and people of Indian origin who live and work in the south of France in cities like Toulouse, Nice, Marseille, Grenoble, and Lyon. 

6. The two leaders will visit the site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in  Cadarache. The project aims to produce fusion power and power plant levels. India is among the seven countries which are partnering in this high-science project.

India and France share a special relationship and celebrated the 25th anniversary of their strategic partnership in 2024.

The strategic partnership covers the entire gamut of issues from defense and security, civilian nuclear matters, space, trade, economy, and commerce, and is now expanding to newer areas such as innovation and technology, maritime security cooperation, counter terrorism, health cooperation, renewable energy, and development cooperation, especially development cooperation aimed at third countries. 

“We are sure that the visit of the Prime Minister would further propel this strategic partnership with France,” Foreign Secretary Misri said.