Prime Minister Narendra Modi is setting off on a week-long visit to France and Slovakia, where he will take part in the G7 Summit and hold bilateral talks with several world leaders. The France leg runs on June 13-14 in Nice and June 16-19 in Evian and Paris.
New Delhi, June 12. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is setting off on an important week-long visit to France and Slovakia. During the trip he will take part in the G7 Summit and hold bilateral meetings with the top leaders of several countries. According to official information, the Prime Minister will be in Nice, France, on June 13-14 and in Evian and Paris from June 16-19. The visit is being seen as significant in the context of India's growing role on the world stage and its deepening strategic ties with major Western nations.
India's participation in the G7
France holds the G7 presidency this year, and India has been invited as an 'outreach' partner country. French President Emmanuel Macron extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi during his visit to India earlier this year. The summit is expected to discuss issues such as global macroeconomic imbalances, energy security, critical minerals and a new framework for international partnerships — areas in which India's role is regarded as important.
'Bharat Innovates' and VivaTech in Nice
The France leg will begin in Nice, where Prime Minister Modi will join President Macron at the 'Bharat Innovates' programme. The event is part of the India-France Year of Innovation. The two leaders will also attend 'VivaTech 2026', one of Europe's largest technology gatherings. Through these events India seeks to showcase its start-up, innovation and technology ecosystem on a global platform and to explore fresh avenues for investment and partnership.
Bilateral talks
During the visit the Prime Minister will hold separate bilateral meetings with several world leaders. These talks are likely to focus on advancing cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, defence, energy, technology and climate. The India-France strategic partnership is already strong, and the visit is expected to further deepen cooperation in defence and high-technology sectors.
Why the Slovakia leg matters
After France, the Prime Minister will also visit Slovakia. The trip is significant for giving fresh momentum to India's ties with this Central European country. Experts say India is working to diversify its economic and strategic relationships with the European Union, and growing engagement with countries of Central and Eastern Europe is part of that broader policy.
The India-France strategic partnership
The strategic partnership between India and France is decades old and multidimensional. In defence, France has been one of India's leading partners — whether in fighter aircraft, submarines or high-technology cooperation. Both countries favour a free, open and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific and have coordinated closely toward that end. The scope of cooperation has also steadily widened in areas such as space, civil nuclear energy, clean energy and digital technology. The visit is being seen as an opportunity to give fresh momentum to ongoing initiatives in these very areas.
The trade and technology dimension
The visit is significant on the economic front as well. India is expanding its trade and investment ties with Europe, and recent years have seen progress on several trade and economic-partnership agreements with European nations. The presence of Indian start-ups and technology companies on a platform like VivaTech signals that India is emerging not merely as a market but also as a major source of innovation and technology. The joint presence of the Prime Minister and President Macron could open new doors of global partnership and investment for these companies.
What experts say
Foreign-policy experts believe India's repeated invitations to an influential grouping like the G7 signal that it is increasingly viewed as an indispensable participant in global economic and geopolitical discussions. India was also invited as an outreach partner to an expanded G7 session last year. They say India's perspective on issues such as energy security, supply chains and critical minerals is now shaping global policymaking. Some commentators, however, also stress that the true value of such visits is seen in concrete agreements and long-term partnerships, not merely in symbolic presence.
What happens next
All eyes will be on the joint statements, agreements and announcements that emerge from the visit. For India, it is an opportunity to firmly present its position on global issues such as climate, trade and technology, and to carry forward the voice of developing nations. The coming days will make clear in which concrete areas India-France and India-Slovakia ties were advanced, and how effective India's interventions were on the G7 platform. For New Delhi, sustained engagement with such groupings is also part of a broader effort to shape the rules of the emerging global order rather than merely respond to them, and the outcomes of this visit will feed into that longer-term diplomatic strategy.
