India, France discuss upskilling railway staff, deepening cooperation

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot discussed upskilling railway staff. This reflects growing India-France ties, with President Macron set to visit for the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw discussed opportunities for upskilling railway staff in collaboration with France, underlining the long-standing cooperation between the two countries in the railway sector. In a post on X on Friday, Vaishnaw said, "Discussed opportunities for upskilling railway staff in collaboration with France. Bharat and France share a long history of cooperation in the railway sector. Had a productive discussion with Mr. Philippe Tabarot, Minister of Transport, France, on maintenance, cleaning and quality in manufacturing." https://x.com/AshwiniVaishnaw/status/2017270232004604321?s=20

The interaction reflects growing engagement between India and France, as bilateral cooperation continues to deepen across multiple sectors, including infrastructure, manufacturing and skills development.

Macron's Visit for AI Summit

Against this backdrop of expanding ties, French President Emmanuel Macron on January 9 announced that he would visit India next month, with New Delhi set to host the AI Impact Summit. Macron made the remarks while addressing the Diplomatic Corps, according to France 24.

President Macron, while speaking about the successes of French diplomacy in 2025, referred to the world coming together for the Artificial Intelligence Summit in Paris and the progress made on the front. "Let's finally look at what we have managed to achieve together, the successes of French diplomacy last year -- the Artificial Intelligence summit. The whole world came to Paris. We made progress on this, and we co-chaired it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and next month, I'll be in India to follow up."

Following this, the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, announced by Prime Minister Modi at the France AI Action Summit and scheduled for February 19-20 in New Delhi, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South, as noted by the official website.

Jaishankar on Strengthening Bilateral Ties

Ahead of President Macron's visit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during an earlier meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, had also mentioned that India would be expecting President Macron soon. Speaking about how the two countries are active in the international arena, Jaishankar said they are committed to multipolarity and that working together is important not only for the bilateral relationship but also for stabilising global politics.

"Apart from our bilateral ties, we are both very active in the international arena. This year we chaired the BRICS, you chaired the G7. We are both members of the G20. We are also otherwise active in a number of international organisations. So as two nations committed to multi-polarity, I believe that working together is important for ourselves, also for stabilising the global politics at this stage," EAM Jaishankar said. He added, "Let me conclude that by adding that we are expecting President Macron in India very soon. So part of what we would be devoting ourselves to is to prepare for that."

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