New Delhi: President of France Emmanuel Macron On Thursday, he concluded his three-day tour of India with a “Thank you India!” Attend the India AI Impact Summit 2026 and connect with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.In a post on X, Macron shared a video from his visit and attached a note that read “Thank you India!” for the warm welcome he received during his trip.During the visit, Macron met with Prime Minister Modi and interacted with global technology leaders, marking deeper cooperation between Paris and New Delhi in the fields of artificial intelligence, innovation and strategy.Macron was speaking at the India Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit 2026, opening the speech and winning applause from the audience.“Namaste. Thank you so much for welcoming us to this great city in this great country. It is a pleasure to be back after my 2024 state visit to participate in the Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit hosted by you, Prime Minister,” he said.Praising India’s digital transformation over the past decade, he said: “Ten years ago, a street vendor in Mumbai could not open a bank account. No address, no documents, no access, and today the same vendor can accept payments through his mobile phone.”He added, “India has built something that no other country in the world has built. Digital identities for 1.4 billion people. Payment systems that now handle 20 billion transactions every month. Health infrastructure that has issued 500 million digital health IDs. Here are the results. They call it India Stack Open Interoperability Sovereignty.”On the sidelines of the summit, Macron met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai to discuss digital cooperation and priorities for France’s G7 presidency.“Solutions to our digital challenges are not found at Google, but are built with Google and all stakeholders. At the Delhi Artificial Intelligence Summit, we discussed France’s priorities for the G7 Presidency with Sundar Pichai. I shared a message: Choose France!” Macron posted on X.Pichai responded: “With its leadership in the G7, France has a key role to play in unlocking the opportunities of AI and we are proud to be a partner.”Macron also met with Meta’s chief artificial intelligence officer, Alexandr Wang.“Had a constructive discussion with Alexandr Wang of Meta at the Delhi AI Summit. We discussed what France has to offer: talent, research and data centers. In short: choose France!” he wrote.“We’ve also reviewed measures to protect young people on social media, particularly the proposal I support to ban social media use by under-15s. Good news: Meta is committed to working with us moving forward,” he added.Regarding the broader India-France partnership, Macron said the relationship between the two countries is at its strongest.“As for the bilateral relationship, I really believe it is at its highest point and we want to do more again because it’s based on our relationship,” he said.During the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held a bilateral meeting with Macron in the capital.Describing India’s progress in digital governance and technology as a global benchmark, Macron highlighted the continued momentum of the India-France strategic partnership with a focus on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
