President Macron’s Remarks on India-France Defence Deal (Transcript)

Editor’s Notes: French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a significant speech in Mumbai, marking the launch of the India-France Year of Innovation and reinforcing the strategic partnership between the two nations. He emphasized France’s commitment to technology transfer and its role as a steadfast partner in the “Make in India” initiative, particularly within the defense and space sectors. Macron also highlighted the leadership of Indian talent in global innovation while outlining a shared vision for tackling challenges like climate change and AI through bilateral cooperation. This address underscores a sovereign alliance built on mutual conviction and a common goal of driving global progress for both nations. (Feb 17, 2026)

TRANSCRIPT:

Opening Remarks

PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: Dear Narendra Modi, Honorable Ministers, Members of Parliaments, Ambassadors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much for traveling from Delhi to welcome myself and my delegation here in Mumbai and being present for this session. Our discussion today, your presence here means a lot and speaks to the long-standing friendship between our two countries and our personal friendship. Thank you very much for that.

Mumbai: City of Dreams

Mumbai, the city of dreams, a city in perpetual motion reaching towards the future. I cannot think of a better place to launch what we are inaugurating today — the India-France Year of Innovation.

India Leads Global Innovation

But before I talk about the future, let me start with a fact about the present — not to be underestimated. The CEO of Alphabet is Indian, the CEO of Microsoft is Indian, the CEO of IBM is Indian, the CEO of Adobe is Indian, the CEO of Palo Alto Networks is Indian, the CEO of Novartis is Indian, and the CEO of Chanel — one of the most iconic houses in France — is Leena Nair from Kolhapur, right there in this state.

And if I would add to that — three months ago, Matthieu Blazy, Chanel’s new creative director, chose a young woman from Hyderabad to open his show in New York, and she was the first Indian model to open a Chanel runway. She was discovered on a subway platform, and she walked into a subway station in front of the world.

So India does not just participate in global innovation — India leads it. From Silicon Valley to the Champs-Élysées, and from technology to culture. And that, dear Prime Minister, is what this Year of Innovation celebrates — not a promise, but a reality.

Innovation as a Driver of Growth

Innovation is a driver of our economic growth. As highlighted by the French Nobel Prize Laureate Philippe Aghion, innovation is also what enables us to address the great challenges of our time — from climate change to inequalities. And that is why we created the France 2030 plan to invest more than 50 billion euros in tomorrow’s sectors, creating thousands of projects and almost 200,000 jobs.

And I’m very proud here to have a unique French delegation covering all possible sectors — from transport, port business, and cement to AI. All the different sectors — energy, infrastructure — are covered here with a lot of innovative people.

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Innovation Is Stronger When Shared

But innovation is never stronger than when it’s shared, and India knows this better than anyone. During COVID in 2021, India ran the largest vaccination campaign in world history — 25 million doses administered in a single day, reaching 1 billion doses in just nine months. And true to this philosophy, India built CoWIN, an open-source digital platform, and offered it to 142 countries so they could do the same.

India-France Defence Partnership

To make science a lever for progress, France and India have been working hand in hand for years. We have reinforced our technological sovereignty while supporting our national industries, and our partnership is strong — it relies on countless joint projects.

In the field of defence, France is a steadfast partner of India. Our high-level cooperation allows us to develop next-generation joint multi-role helicopters, advanced combat aircraft, submarines, and more. And I want to thank you warmly for the extraordinary confidence you have placed in this partnership.

And this is not just a defence contract or a series of defence contracts. We speak about what a sovereign alliance is — two great nations choosing each other on land, at sea, and in the sky. Not by default, but by conviction.

Space Cooperation and Climate

Our cooperation is also crucial in the space sector. The development of the Trishna satellite shows what we can achieve when scientific excellence and industrial expertise are brought together. Thanks to this innovation, we will be able to better monitor and understand climate change.

And we do want to do much more in these sectors — defence and space — because space especially is a great sector in order to better understand our planet, to better monitor communications, our defence activities, and our sovereignty, as well as to gain a better understanding of climate change.

And I want to compliment here our scientists, labs, and so on, working closely together in these sectors, especially when some of them are withdrawing their efforts.

## Decarbonized Energy and Climate Initiatives

Addressing climate change in some means transforming the way we produce energy. France is supporting India’s ambition to expand its access to decarbonized energy through large power reactors as well as small modular reactors. This year, we will develop a series of very important projects in this field.

We launched eight years ago together the Solar Alliance Initiative, working very well, by the way. We have a lot of civilian nuclear initiatives here in the country. We will develop this year — Airbus will develop a demonstrator for the production of sustainable aviation fuel, helping to accelerate the decarbonization of air transport in India. And I could mention a series of different initiatives like this one to illustrate the strength and the depth of this partnership.

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## Innovation for the Common Good

Our partnership is also guided by a shared conviction that innovation is not just about major technological breakthrough, but also about the common good, about improving everyday life, about making it healthier and safer.

This is the ambition behind initiatives such as the Farm to Plate project, led by the French Institute in Pondicherry with the VLV Group. It will make it possible to track agricultural products at every stage and ensure their quality and protect consumers.

And let me also emphasize that innovation requires investing in the education and training of our people, if I mention the common good. The launch of the Franco-Indian Campus for Aeronautics is a beautiful opportunity for our countries to develop unique expertise, but this is based as well on the very strong partnership on education and research.

And as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Indo-French Center for the Promotion of Advanced Research, I believe we also have a valuable opportunity to deepen our scientific and academic ties, which we will certainly discuss tomorrow in Delhi.

## Culture, Arts, and Creative Collaboration

In Delhi, I will meet artists and entrepreneurs to discuss another key aspect of our cooperation, which brings our countries closer — culture. French and Indian professionals are already working together to imagine new experiences for the future National Museum in Delhi and the Lotto Maritime Complex in Gujarat. And through Villa Swagatam and soon our partnership with the Serendipity Arts Foundation, we will create new opportunities for artists to connect and create.

I spent time with musicians, actors, and producers today. I will spend time tomorrow with key players of our cultural links, and I can tell you that we have a series of unique opportunities to create value together, but to convey as well our stories to the rest of the world and advocate for a certain vision of this world based on cooperation and mutual respect.

## Artificial Intelligence: Powerful, Safe, and Democratic

Across all the sectors I mentioned — from defense to space, from health to culture — artificial intelligence plays a central role, enabling us to push the boundaries of innovation. AI holds the promise of improving pandemic prediction, transforming agriculture, opening new possibilities for artistic creations.

In a few moments, an AI-generated work will be projected into the Gateway of India as part of a production by the Grand Palais Immersif, a leading French institution in digital content and innovative immersive experiences. And this is just one of the many examples of AI’s potential — a potential that France and India are determined to explore, but not without safeguards, not without carefully considering its consequences, to respect artists, to respect our children and teenagers, and to protect our democracies.

This is a path we are striving to create together — an AI that is powerful, profitable, but also safe, inclusive, secure, and democratic. With this ambition, we co-chaired the AI Action Summit in Paris last year and established a framework for our bilateral cooperation in these technologies, the Indo-French Roadmap for AI. And I’m confident that the AI Impact Summit, in which I will be taking part in two days’ time, will allow us to continue moving forward together toward a better use of artificial intelligence.

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Let me conclude by sharing here three ambitions for 2026.

First, to better connect our ecosystems in order to make life easier for researchers, entrepreneurs, students, investors who are willing to develop partnerships. Second, to multiply concrete projects that help us tackle the challenges of our time, climate, health, food security, clean mobility.

Finally, we must ensure that this momentum continues well beyond 2026, and this is our common ambition. We must make the idea of innovation the starting point for an unprecedented level of integration between our two knowledge-based economies, and it is speaking from aerospace, space defense, agriculture, health, sustainable economy, and creative and cultural industries. We can cover a lot of them.

The Indo-French Innovation Network

To achieve these objectives, we need concrete tools, and the Indo-French Innovation Network, presented a few years ago, and launched today as part of this year, is specifically designed to be a constructive bridge between our two innovation ecosystems.

I hope that all of you will find inspiration and enthusiasm for new projects, projects that will bring progress and prosperity to our two nations and beyond.

Innovation at the Core of Global Leadership

It is no coincidence that the spirit of innovation is at the core of our respective presidencies — your presidency of the BRICS and the French presidency of the G7. Innovation is a value we hold dear, one that we champion in multilateral forums, convinced that it is by forging new ties and joining our strengths that we can shape the solutions to the challenges of the century.

And this is why, following your proposal, Mr. Prime Minister, we will have this innovation day, the day before the G7 together, led by a Franco-Indian initiative with a lot of students and researchers that we will bring together.

France Chooses India

I started with the names of those who led and lead global innovation today. Many of them were born here in India. The question is no longer whether India innovates. The question is who will innovate with India, and France is the unique clear answer.

We are here, we want to be here with you, and we are not leaving. “J-Ho,” as we say in a famous movie — so long live the Indo-French interrelationship. Thank you very much.