New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron in India for their highly-important official visit. They arrived in Mumbai past midnight on 17 January and Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis received them at the Mumbai airport.
This is Macron’s fourth trip to India at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation. It shows the growing India-France strategic partnership that is becoming strengthened with each passing year. This time, Macron’s visit coincides with the AI Impact summit in India. Macron, along with other heads of state, policymakers and AI leaders from around the world will attend the summit in Delhi.
French President’s Mumbai schedule
French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the inaugural ceremony of the AI Impact Summit 2026 to be held in Mumbai and Delhi. Then, on Tuesday, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 3:15 pm at Mumbai’s Lok Bhawan. In the meeting, both leaders will review the progress made in the India-France Strategic Partnership. Also, they will focus on strengthening the strategic partnership and explore ways to diversify it into new and emerging areas. Both leaders will also exchange views on issues of regional and global importance.
There will be exchange of MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) between the two leaders followed by press statement at Raj Bhavan. After that, at around 5:20 pm, Macron will attend the India-France Innovation Forum at The Taj Mahal Palace. Then he will attend the ‘India-France Year of Innovation and Cultural Remembrance’ event at 7:15 pm in Gateway of India.
Beyond defence ties
Macron’s visit aims to deepen the India-France bilateral ties and take them beyond the defence partnership. Earlier in February, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reportedly gave its nod for 114 Rafale fighter planes for the Indian Air Force and six P8i patrol and reconnaissance aircraft for the Indian Navy. The DAC, the key body which takes a call on all big-ticket capital procurements, have also reportedly cleared the procurement of six additional P-8I maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the US.