Mumbai, July 10 -- India and France co-chaired the Economic and Financial Dialogue in Aix-en-Provence on four July 2026, with Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman and Roland Lescure, Minister of Economy, Finance, Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty of France, leading the talks. The Ministry of Finance described the meeting as part of efforts to strengthen economic engagement within the framework of the special global strategic partnership. The ministers resumed high level exchanges to review the international outlook and deepen bilateral economic ties.
The discussions covered coordination in multilateral forums and identified specific areas to expand cooperation, including alignment of India and France positions in platforms such as the G20 and the Paris Club. The dialogue took place as part of India's association with the French G7 presidency and included exchange of views on the world economic outlook and challenges to global growth. Officials highlighted the importance of economic sovereignty and security in the current geopolitical context.
The two sides discussed the roll out of cooperation on critical minerals as part of broader efforts to secure resilient supply chains, and they examined ways to increase cross investments. In the infrastructure domain, officials explored opportunities in the high speed railway sector, building on an earlier declaration of intent on railways. Delegates also reviewed proposals to further connect the financial industries of India and France to support trade, investment and technology collaboration.
Both ministers pledged to use the Economic and Financial Dialogue as the primary platform for addressing economic, financial, technological, investment and trade matters, and they agreed to explore the possibility of holding the next edition in 2027. The Ministry noted that the dialogue is expected to help both countries coordinate more closely on supply chains, clean energy, digital sovereignty and infrastructure financing in the coming years. They welcomed the continuing work of the French Development Agency (AFD) in India and the prospects for future projects in urban infrastructure, climate and energy.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.