Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Nice, a city on France's Mediterranean coast, on Saturday evening, June 13, kicking off a six-day visit to France and Slovakia that combines high-level bilateral diplomacy, a technology summit, and multilateral engagement at the G7. The trip comes at a moment of growing strategic alignment between New Delhi and Paris, with the two countries having formally elevated their relationship to a 'Special Global Strategic Partnership' in February and designating 2026 the India-France Year of Innovation.
Modi's first major engagement is the inauguration, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, of 'Bharat Innovates 2026', a tech summit in Nice on Sunday designed to bring together Indian deep-tech ventures and higher education institutions with French counterparts for research collaboration, co-development, and technology transfer. The two leaders will follow the event with bilateral talks expected to cover defence, technology, and pressing regional and global issues — including the conflict between the United States and Iran, after President Donald Trump indicated a settlement agreement could be signed as early as Sunday. India and France's strategic partnership stretches back roughly three decades, and this visit underscores the depth of those ties at a time of turbulent international affairs.
The visit is shadowed by a sharp deterioration in India-US relations following a US military strike off the coast of Oman that killed three Indian seafarers. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar that violations of the American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz 'will not be tolerated', introducing a note of strain into an otherwise diplomatically busy week for New Delhi.
Despite that tension, a bilateral meeting between Modi and Trump is confirmed for the sidelines of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, an alpine resort in eastern France, on June 16–17. It will be their first face-to-face meeting since February 2025. Senior US officials said Trump plans to raise economic growth, supply chain resilience for critical minerals, illegal migration, and artificial intelligence — and that the bilateral India-US trade agreement currently under negotiation is also expected to feature. Modi noted that this will be the eighth consecutive G7 to which India has been invited as an outreach partner, framing the invitation as a reflection of India's rising global standing and its role as a voice for the Global South.
After the G7, Modi heads to Paris for VivaTech, one of Europe's largest annual technology conferences, where India holds the status of AI Country Partner. The multi-city itinerary — spanning Nice, Évian, and Paris — reflects how the India-France relationship has broadened well beyond its traditional defence foundation to encompass innovation, digital technology, and shared influence over global economic governance.