New Delhi, Feb. 19 -- French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the audience at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 on Thursday and applauded India for playing a key role in democratizing Digital Public Infrastructure.

"Ten years ago, a street vendor cannot open a bank account in Mumbai but today he can accept payments online. No address, no papers, no access and today the same vendor accepts payments on his phone India has built something no other country has built, a digital identity for 1.4 billion people," Macron said.

"India built something that no other country in the world has built. A digital identity for 1.4 billion people. A payment system that now processes 20 billion transactions every month. A health infrastructure that has is...