French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in India for a three-day visit focused on defence, trade, and AI, highlighting the growing mutual reliance between Paris and New Delhi.

The visit coincides with increased engagement by European capitals with India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy. France aims to secure defence deals and industrial partnerships while strengthening its position as India’s preferred EU partner.

On his fourth trip to India, Macron is joined by around 30 business executives and several cabinet ministers, including Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin, who will take part in the sixth annual Franco-Indian defence dialogue.

According to the Élysée Palace, over 700 French companies operate in India, providing jobs for around 575,000 people. Bilateral trade has grown from €6.45 billion in 2020–21 to €15 billion last year, though it still falls far short of the €42 billion in trade between India and Germany, Euractiv reports.

France and India share strategic priorities in the Indo-Pacific, including managing China’s rising influence, safeguarding freedom of navigation, and securing key chokepoints like the Bab-el-Mandeb and the Strait of Malacca.

Paris was the first capital to establish a strategic partnership with India, back in 1998.

Since 2018, France has allowed the Indian Navy access to its regional bases, including one in Djibouti. French warships frequently call at Indian military ports, including a carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which visited Goa in January 2025.

Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to remotely launch a new Airbus H125 helicopter assembly line in Bangalore, as the French president advances several significant defence deals.

A year after co-chairing a summit in Paris with Modi, Macron will participate on Thursday alongside about 15 other heads of state and government at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, which seeks to guide governance in the rapidly expanding AI sector.

On the eve of the summit, he is also expected to officially open a Franco-Indian AI centre focused on healthcare, according to an Élysée adviser.