India and France to strengthen digital partnerships

India and France have formed a partnership in the digital sphere, with a focus on fostering digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, Startup, AI, supercomputing, 5G/6G telecom and digital skills development.
Geographical map with pins on New Delhi and Brussels.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to France, where he held discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron, resulted in a mutual agreement to strengthen collaboration in the digital sector and advance the Indo-French Roadmap on Cyber Security and Digital Technology. The visit encompassed a range of significant agreements, with the strategic roadmap Horizon 2047 at the forefront, outlining long-term cooperation in defense, space, nuclear energy, climate change, green transitions, education, and people-to-people connections. Key digital areas of focus include digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, startups, AI, supercomputing, 5G/6G telecommunications, and the development of digital skills.

Here are the leading digital outcomes of the meeting of the two leaders and their respective delegations:

  • Artificial Intelligence: Parties agreed to pursue bilateral cooperation on advanced digital technologies, including supercomputing, cloud computing, AI, and quantum technologies, within the framework of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPIA).
  • Digital advancement and cybersecurity: Parties reaffirmed their commitment to collaborate on promoting peaceful, secure, and open cyberspace, including joint efforts between cybersecurity agencies and related ecosystem partners.
  • Cyber dialogue and UN engagement: India and France will prioritise the strategic importance of cyberspace and commit to close collaboration on cyber dialogue and UN-related cyber processes.
  • Support for startups and innovation: Facilitating bilateral cooperation and connectivity within the startup and entrepreneurial networks.
  • Empowering digital economies through DPI: Both countries share the belief in the transformative power of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to foster inclusive digital economies and societies.
  • UPI implementation for empowering citizens: India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) will be introduced in France and Europe, providing citizens with seamless digital payment options by September 2023.
  • Infrastructure and innovation: Advancing multi-stakeholder exchanges through platforms like InFrastructures (India France Structures) and InFinity (India France Innovation in Information Technology) to promote open, free, democratic, and inclusive digital economies.
  • Science, technology, and academic cooperation: Partners have agreed on improving collaboration that would span across research institutions in scientific fields, critical technologies, health, cyber, digital regulatory frameworks, and digital technologies.