The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed defence and civil nuclear energy-related cooperation, among other things, in the bilateral talks they held during the former’s France visit that ended on Wednesday (February 12).
Modi proposed that the French army “take a closer look” at India’s Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers and added that Paris’s purchase of the system “would be another milestone in Indo-French defence ties”, according to a joint statement issued on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Reuters cited the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s director general of missiles and strategic systems U. Raja Babu as saying that France was “in active talks for Pinaka” but that a deal had not yet materialised.
The two leaders also “commended progress” in collaboration in building French license-built Scorpene-class submarines in India and welcomed the commissioning of the sixth and last P-75 Scorpene-class project, the INS Vagsheer, into the Indian navy last month.
They welcomed the “signing of a letter of intent” on small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors, said the joint statement, which cited the duo as recognising nuclear energy’s role in building energy security and transitioning towards a low-carbon economy.
Modi travelled to France on Monday and attended the AI Action summit in Paris the next day. He then travelled to Marseille along the country’s Mediterranean coast on Tuesday aboard the French presidential aircraft, where he held talks with Macron.
Several organisations like Foundation The London Story, the International Council of Indian Muslims, the Indian Labour Solidarity and the Unau Welfare Organisation have written an open letter on the appointment of Modi as co-chair of the AI Action Summit, asking why president Draupadi Murmu was not co-chair instead.
They wrote:
India must be at the helm of discussions on the future of AI and co-chair the 2025 AI Action Summit. Equally, the head of State should represent India whilst attending this event. In the future, we believe that Indian President Draupadi Murmu should be given precedence over Mr. Narendra Modi. President Murmu is the first Adivasi woman to rise to the position of President of India. Her presence at events such as the AI Action Summit would represent the hopes, aspirations and goals of the millions of Adivasis, minorities and women who look up to her. These are exactly the people who should benefit from the AI revolution in India, and who should be at the forefront of discussions around the future of AI.
Delegation-level talks followed in the city, near which Macron hosted Modi for a private dinner.
Visits to the Mazargues War Cemetery to pay tribute to Indian soldiers who fought in the World Wars, and to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor facility near Maseille, were on the itinerary as well.
Macron and Modi also jointly inaugurated the Indian consulate in Marseille.
The two sides signed a total of ten deals during Modi’s visit that spanned the technology, civil nuclear energy, “Indo-Pacific/sustainable development”, culture and environment sectors, the external affairs ministry said in a press release.
As per the joint statement, Modi and Macron lauded the launch of a scheme in September wherein Indian students are taught French as a foreign language at universities in France.
This will pave the way for increased “student mobility and meet the target of 30,000 Indian students in France by 2030”, said the statement, adding that the two leaders positively viewed the “rising number of Indian students in France, with 2025 figures expected to reach an unprecedented 10,000”.
They also discussed the situation in the Middle East, the Ukraine war as well as “their common commitment to a free, open, inclusive, secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific region”.
Recalling the launch of the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023, Modi and Macron also “agreed to work together more closely on implementing the initiative”.