Harsh V Pant
French President Emmanuel Macron’s India visit and the elevation of ties to a “special global strategic partnership” signal deeper convergence in defence, Indo-Pacific strategy, AI, and clean energy. The Horizon 2047 Roadmap aims to institutionalise long-term cooperation amid global volatility.
If Horizon 2047 vision is backed by political will, it could serve as a template for middle powers.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s India visit last week, anchored around the Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit in Mumbai and hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, signalled more than ceremonial warmth. The decision to elevate ties to a “special global strategic partnership” reflects a conscious strategic recalibration by two powers seeking greater agency in an increasingly fragmented international order.
In many ways, the visit underscored how India and France are attempting to future-proof their partnership amid sharpening great-power competition and systemic volatility.
The institutionalisation of an annual Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue to oversee the Horizon 2047 Roadmap is particularly noteworthy. This move injects a degree of bureaucratic discipline and strategic continuity into the relationship.
At a time when multipolarity often translates into unpredictability, the creation of structured oversight mechanisms suggests both sides recognise that ambition must be matched with implementation. It also reinforces a shared commitment to shaping, rather than merely reacting to, the evolving global order.
Geopolitically, the logic of convergence is compelling. France remains the only major European power with resident territories and a sustained military presence in the Indo-Pacific, while India’s strategic anxieties are increasingly centred on its maritime periphery. Their alignment is therefore not rhetorical but structural.
Both are wary of hegemonic impulses—particularly from China and an increasingly transactional Washington—and both seek to preserve strategic autonomy without being subsumed into rigid alliance blocs.
This convergence stems from mutual vulnerabilities: India’s border disputes with China and France’s concerns over supply chain disruptions in the Indian Ocean. By framing their partnership as a “force for global stability”, both leaders implicitly challenge unipolar dominance, advocating rules-based order and sovereign equality.
This anti-hegemonic stance, articulated in joint statements, allows India to diversify beyond Russia and the US, while France gains leverage in the Global South, bridging European Union (EU)-India ties.
New Delhi and Paris are positioning themselves as stabilising actors in a fluid system marked by contestation in the Indo-Pacific, the Ukraine conflict, and turbulence in West Asia.
Defence corporation, a key priority
Defence cooperation remains the ballast of the relationship. The renewal of the Defence Cooperation Agreement, the inauguration of an H125 helicopter assembly line in Karnataka, and the joint venture between Bharat Electronics Limited and Safran for HAMMER missile production illustrate a shift from buyer-seller dynamics to co-development and co-production.
This aligns squarely with India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat agenda while serving France’s interest in deepening its Indo-Pacific footprint. Reciprocal officer deployments further enhance interoperability, signalling a maturing military partnership rooted in trust. Yet, as with any defence relationship, technology transfer sensitivities and export control regimes will require careful management.
Technology and innovation are emerging as the new frontier. The launch of the India-France Year of Innovation and associated initiatives in AI, critical minerals, and advanced materials indicate recognition that strategic competition today is as much technological as it is territorial.
President Macron’s praise for India’s digital public infrastructure—Aadhaar, UPI, and digital health IDs—reflects Paris’s appreciation of scalable governance models that blend innovation with regulation.
Collaborative platforms such as the Indo-French Centre for AI at AIIMS and the Joint Advanced Technology Development Group suggest a shared interest in shaping norms around ethical AI. In a world increasingly defined by US-China tech rivalry, such cooperation allows both countries to hedge and retain normative influence.
Economically, the diversification of engagement beyond traditional defence trade into startups, clean energy, and critical minerals is equally significant. For India, French expertise in nuclear energy and sustainable technologies complements its development priorities.
India-France partnership, a history of maintaining strategic autonomy
For France, India’s growth trajectory offers opportunities at a time of economic headwinds in Europe. The partnership thus reflects pragmatic mutualism, though progress will depend on resolving regulatory frictions and advancing broader EU-India trade negotiations.
Importantly, the normative dimension should not be underestimated. Shared commitments to democracy, multilateralism, and international law provide a political foundation that cushions inevitable differences—whether over Ukraine or other global flashpoints. These shared values enable candid dialogue without derailing the broader strategic trajectory.
Ever since the Cold War, India-France ties have been anchored in a shared commitment to strategic autonomy. Despite India’s proximity to the Soviet Union and France’s formal position within the Western bloc, both resisted rigid bipolarity. For New Delhi, non-alignment was a means of preserving sovereign choice; for Paris—especially under Charles de Gaulle—asserting independence from US dominance was central to its global posture.
This convergence of strategic cultures enabled cooperation beyond ideological divides. Nuclear engagement exemplified this pragmatism. The 1951 bilateral nuclear agreement signalled early trust, with France willing to collaborate outside the narrow confines of the Manhattan Project powers.
Even after India’s 1974 nuclear test triggered Western non-proliferation pressures, France supplied enriched uranium for the Tarapur reactors in the 1980s, demonstrating a readiness to act independently of Washington. Paris viewed India’s nuclear ambitions through a strategic, not moralistic, lens.
France’s approach during regional crises further strengthened ties. It was among the first Western nations to lift the 1965 arms embargo on India and Pakistan. During the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, as the US and China tilted toward Pakistan, France adopted a more measured stance, acknowledging India’s security concerns and abstaining on certain UN resolutions.
For India, France provided access to advanced Western technology without ideological strings, balancing Soviet dependence. For France, engagement with India reinforced its own quest for strategic autonomy. These habits of trust culminated in 1998, when Paris opposed sweeping sanctions after India’s Pokhran-II tests. The Cold War thus laid the durable foundations of today’s robust India-France strategic partnership.
The drivers of India-France ties—geopolitical alignment, defence synergies, technological collaboration, economic diversification, and normative convergence—suggest a partnership that has moved decisively beyond transactionalism. The challenge now lies in sustained delivery.
If the Horizon 2047 vision is backed by consistent political will and institutional follow-through, this relationship could serve as a template for how middle powers navigate systemic flux while preserving autonomy. In an era defined by uncertainty, the India-France partnership is increasingly positioning itself as an anchor of balance rather than a bystander to disorder.
About the Contributor
Harsh V. Pant is the Vice President – ORF and Studies at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. He is a Professor of International Relations at King’s India Institute at King’s College London. He is also Director (Honorary) of Delhi School of Transnational Affairs at Delhi University.
This article was first published in Financial Express as An enduring partnership on February 23, 2026.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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Acknowledgement: This article was posted by Pallavi Lad, a Research and Editorial Intern at IMPRI.
