India, June 14 -- India and France on Sunday set a target for doubling two-way trade from the current level of about $16 billion within five years and agreed to work more closely on civil nuclear energy, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron held talks on bolstering bilateral ties and global crises such as the conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia.

The two leaders held a bilateral meeting at Villa Kerylos in the port city of Nice after jointly inaugurating Bharat Innovates 2026, an event aimed at matching Indian deep tech startups with global investors. Nice was the first stop in Modi's nearly week-long tour of Europe that will also take him to Slovakia, before he returns to France to join outreach sessions of the G7...