Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh held a bilateral virtual meeting with France’s Minister for Higher Education, Research and Space, Prof. Philippe Baptiste, to review and strengthen India-France cooperation in science, technology, artificial intelligence, and space exploration.

Both leaders highlighted the growing momentum in the long-standing strategic partnership, particularly in high-technology sectors. Dr. Jitendra Singh noted that the declaration of 2026 as the Indo-French Year of Innovation will provide a major opportunity to deepen collaboration in emerging technologies.

The discussions covered expanding institutional partnerships between India’s Department of Science and Technology and French research organisations, including new initiatives in advanced materials, digital sciences, applied mathematics, and artificial intelligence.

On the space front, Dr. Singh highlighted the strong ISRO-CNES partnership, citing joint satellite missions such as Megha-Tropiques and SARAL, ongoing work on the TRISHNA mission, cooperation on NavIC ground stations in France, and France’s support for India’s Gaganyaan mission.

France also proposed enhanced collaboration in ocean research, Earth observation, launch systems, and human spaceflight programmes, including astronaut training and microgravity experiments.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in science, technology, innovation, and space through deeper research collaboration and industry participation.