NEW DELHI: A hug, a handshake, and a pitch worth $1.5 billion. That was the texture of Sunday in Nice, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron jointly threw open ‘Bharat Innovates 2026’ — and where, hours earlier, PM Modi had quietly worked a room full of the people who write the cheques. The message to the money was unsubtle: India is open, and it’s selling solutions, not buying them.Before the cameras rolled at the conclave, the PM sat down with global venture capitalists and Indian entrepreneurs — OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal, Ronnie Screwvala and a clutch of international investors among them.Commerce minister Piyush Goyal and principal scientific adviser Ajay Kumar Sood were in the room. “India has emerged not as a consumer of solutions but as a contributor to solutions in the world. Innovation is in India’s DNA,” Modi told the gathering, adding that the country was “innovating for a sustainable future; India is innovating for the world.”The numbers gave the rhetoric teeth. The three-day event (June 14-16) has assembled 120 deep-tech startups — culled from over 3,000 applicants, collectively sitting on 1,500-plus patents and $1.5 billion in raised capital — alongside 15 higher education institutions, the premier IITs included, and more than 500 investors and global CEOs. Organisers say nearly $20 million in fresh commitments is already finalised or close to it.Macron, for his part, came bearing intent rather than pleasantries. “India is a country of innovation. India, France have a true partnership in critical sectors like AI and climate change,” he said, before nudging the relationship into new territory: there was “scope to expand bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy, including in the area of Small Modular Reactors.”Modi framed the chemistry in his own register. “Different countries trade with each other and strike strategic partnerships. But there are few relations driven by shared vision, besides shared interests. India-France is one such relationship,” he said — listing “connection, conviction, innovation, inspiration and shared vision” as its load-bearing pillars.The Nice leg also marks the first summit between the two leaders since ties were elevated to a ‘Special Global Strategic Partnership’ in February. From here, Modi heads to Slovakia, then back for the G7 in Evian, before closing out at VivaTech in Paris — where India will pitch up with the show’s largest national pavilion.
