00:00It is no coincidence that the spirit of innovation is at the core of our respective Presidency.
00:06Your Presidency of the BRICS and the French Presidency of the G7.
00:11Dear Narendra Modi, Honourable Ministers, Members of Parliament, Ambassadors, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
00:21First of all, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much for travelling from Delhi to welcome myself and my delegation
00:29here in Mumbai and being present for this session.
00:34Our discussion today, your presence here, means a lot and speaks to the long-standing friendship between our two countries
00:42and our personal friendship.
00:45Thank you very much for that.
00:47Mumbai, the city of dreams, a city in perpetual motion reaching towards the future.
00:54I cannot think of a better place to launch what we are inaugurating today, the India-France Year of Innovation.
01:02But before I talk about the future, let me start with a fact about the present, not to be underestimated.
01:10The CEO of Alphabet is Indian.
01:13The CEO of Microsoft is Indian.
01:15The CEO of IBM is Indian.
01:18The CEO of Adobe is Indian.
01:20The CEO of Palo Alto Networks is Indian.
01:23The CEO of Novartis is Indian.
01:25And the CEO of Chanel, one of the most iconic houses in France, is Lina Nair from Kolapour, right here
01:36in the state.
01:41So, and if I would add to that, three months ago, Mathieu Blazy, Chanel's new creative director, chose a young
01:48woman from Hyderabad, Bavita Mandava, to open his show in New York.
01:54And she was the first Indian model to open the channel runway.
01:59She was discovered on the subway platform and she walked into a subway station in front of the world.
02:05So, India does not just participate to global innovation.
02:10India leads it.
02:12From Silicon Valley to the Champs Elysees and from technology to culture.
02:18And that, dear Narendra, dear Prime Minister, is what this year of innovation celebrates.
02:25Not a promise, but a reality.
02:29Innovation is a driver of our economic growth.
02:32As highlighted by the French Nobel Prize laureate, Philippe Aguillon, innovation is also what enables us to address the great
02:40challenges of our time, from climate change to inequalities.
02:44And that is why we created the France 2030 plan to invest more than 50 billion euros in tomorrow's sectors,
02:56creating thousands of projects and almost 200,000 jobs.
03:00And I'm very proud here to have a unique French delegation with all the possible sectors and from transport, port
03:11business, cement to AI.
03:14I mean, all the different sectors, energy, infrastructure are covered here with a lot of innovative people.
03:20But innovation is never stronger than when it's shared.
03:24And India knows this better than anyone.
03:28During COVID in 2021, India ran the largest vaccination campaign in world history.
03:3525 million doses administrated in a single day.
03:40Reaching 1 billion doses in just nine months.
03:44And true to this philosophy, India built COWIN, an open source digital platform, and offered it to 142 countries so
03:54they could do the same.
03:55To make science a lover for progress, France and India have been working hand in hand for years.
04:01And we've reinforced our technological sovereignty while supporting our national industries.
04:07And our partnership is strong and it relies on countless joint projects.
04:14In the field of defence, France is a steadfast partner of making India.
04:20Our high-level cooperation allows us to develop next generation engines, multirole helicopters, advanced combat aircraft, submarines, etc., etc.
04:31And I want to thank you warmly for the extraordinary confidence you've placed in this partnership.
04:37And this is not just a defence contract, a series of defence contracts.
04:41We speak about what a sovereign alliance is.
04:46Two great nations choosing each other on land, at sea, and in the sky.
04:52Not by default, but by conviction.
04:55And our cooperation is also crucial in the space sector.
05:01The development of the Trishna satellite shows what we can achieve when scientific excellence and industrial expertise are brought together.
05:11Thanks to this innovation, we will be able to better monitor and understand climate change.
05:15And we do want to do much more in these sectors, defence, space, because especially space is a great sector
05:25in order to better understand our planet,
05:28to better monitor, obviously, communications, our defence activities and our sovereignty, better understanding of climate change.
05:40And I want to complement here our scientists, labs and so on, working closely together in these sectors, especially when
05:48some others are withdrawing their efforts.
05:52Addressing climate change in some means transforming the way we produce energy.
05:56France is supporting India's ambition to expand its access to decarbonised energy through large power reactors as well as small
06:04modular reactors.
06:06This year, we will develop a series of very important projects in this field.
06:12We launched eight years ago together the Solar Alliance initiative, working very well, by the way.
06:19We have a lot of civilian nuclear initiatives here in the country.
06:25We will develop this year, Airbus will develop a demonstrator for the production of sustainable aviation fuel, helping to accelerate
06:31the decarbonisation of air transport in India.
06:34And I could mention a series of different initiatives like this one to illustrate the strengths and the depths of
06:41this partnership.
06:43Our partnership is also guided by a shared conviction that innovation is not just about major technological breakthroughs, but also
06:52about the common good.
06:55About improving everyday life, about improving everyday life, about making it healthier and safer.
07:01This is the ambition behind initiatives such as the Farm to Play project, led by the French Institute in Pondicherry
07:09with the Vila V Group.
07:11It will make it possible to track agricultural products at every stage and ensure their quality and protect consumers.
07:19And let me also emphasize that innovation requires investing in the education and training of our people, if I mention
07:27common good.
07:28The launch of the Franco-Indian Campus for Aeronautics is a beautiful opportunity for our countries to develop unique expertise.
07:36But this is based as well on a very strong partnership on education and research.
07:42And as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Indo-French Centre for the promotion of advanced research, I believe
07:52we also have a valuable opportunity to deepen our scientific and academic ties, which we will certainly discuss tomorrow in
08:01Delhi.
08:02In Delhi, I will also meet artists and entrepreneurs to discuss another key aspect of our cooperation, which brings our
08:10countries closer, culture.
08:13French and Indian professionals are already working together to imagine new experiences for the future National Museum in Delhi and
08:21the Little Maritime Complex in Gujarat.
08:24And through Vila Slogatan, and soon our partnership with the Seren PDT Foundation to the Arts, we will create new
08:35opportunities for artists to connect and create.
08:40I spend time with musicians, actors, producers today.
08:47I will spend time tomorrow with key players of our cultural links.
08:52And I can tell you that we have a series of unique opportunities to create value together, but to convey
08:59as well our stories to the rest of the world and advocate for a certain vision of this world based
09:06on cooperation and mutual respect.
09:12Across all the sectors I mentioned, from defence to space, from health to culture, artificial intelligence plays a central role,
09:20enabling us to push the boundaries of innovation.
09:24AI holds the promise of improving pandemic prediction, transforming agriculture, opening new possibilities for artistic creations.
09:32In a few moments, an AI-generated work will be projected into the gateway of India as part of a
09:39production by the Grand Palais Mercif, a leading French institution in digital content and innovative immersive experiences.
09:46And this is just one of the many examples of AI's potential, a potential that France and India are determined
09:54to explore, but not without safeguards, not without carefully considering its consequences to respect artists, to respect our children and
10:04teenagers, and to protect our democracies.
10:08This is the path we are striving to create together, an AI that is powerful, profitable, but also safe, inclusive,
10:19secure, and democratic.
10:22With this ambition, Diana Andra, we co-chaired the AI Action Summit in Paris last year and established a framework
10:29for our bilateral cooperation in these technologies, the Indo-French roadmap for AI.
10:34And I'm confident that the AI Impact Summit, in which I will be taking part in two days' time, will
10:41allow us to continue moving forward together toward a better use of artificial intelligence.
10:48Let me conclude by here sharing three ambitions for 2026.
10:54First, to better connect our ecosystems in order to make life easier for researchers, entrepreneurs, students, investors who are willing
11:05to develop partnerships.
11:07Second, to multiply concrete projects that help us tackle the challenges of our time, climate, health, food security, clean mobility.
11:19Finally, we must ensure that this momentum continues well beyond 2026.
11:25And this is our common ambition.
11:27We must make this year of innovation the starting point for an unprecedented level of integration between our two knowledge
11:35-based economies.
11:35And it is speaking from aerospace, space defense, agriculture, health, sustainable economy, and creative and cultural industries.
11:49We can cover a lot of them.
11:51To achieve these objectives, we need concrete tools.
11:55And the Indo-French Innovation Network, presented a few minutes ago and launched today as part of this year, is
12:03specifically designed to be a constructive bridge between our two innovation ecosystems.
12:09I hope that all of you will find inspiration and enthusiasm for new projects.
12:17Projects that will bring progress and prosperity to our two nations and beyond.
12:23It is no coincidence that the spirit of innovation is at the core of our respective presidency.
12:29Your presidency of the BRICS and the French presidency of the G7.
12:36Innovation is a value we hold dear.
12:40One that we champion in multilateral forums, convinced that it is by forging new ties and joining our strengths that
12:47we can shape the solutions to the challenges of the century.
12:50And this is why, following your proposal, Mr. Prime Minister, we will have this innovation day, the day before the
12:58G7 together, led by Franco-Indian initiatives with a lot of students and researchers that we will bring together.
13:08I started with the names of those who led and lead global innovation today.
13:14Many of them were born here in India.
13:17The question is no longer whether India innovates.
13:21The question is, who will innovate with India?
13:26And France is the unique clear answer.
13:30We are here.
13:32We want to be here with you.
13:34And we are not leaving.
13:37J-Ho, as we say in the famous movie.
13:43So long live the Indo-French relationship.
13:46Thank you very much.
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