Recent Current Affairs related to France

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has visited France to strengthen the strategic partnership and promote economic cooperation between the two nations.

She co-chaired the France Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) at Aix-en-Provence with Roland Lescure, the Minister of France. They committed to using the EFD as a key platform for addressing issues, and agreed to explore conducting the next edition of the dialogue in 2027.

Both nations agreed to enhance cooperation on critical minerals to ensure resilient supply chains. During her visit, she also toured the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project at Cadarache to reinforce scientific and technological cooperation between India and France.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has named French meteorologist Dr. Florence Rabier as the recipient of the 71st International Meteorological Organization (IMO) Prize.

The award, often called the "Nobel Prize of meteorology", carries a cash prize of 10,000 Swiss Francs (CHF).

IIT Delhi and Sorbonne University of France have expanded their strategic partnership. The institutions are launching joint Master of Science (MSc) in Biological Science and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes, scheduled to commence in 2026.

World Music Day

Day – June 21

Theme 2026 – "Music for Peace"

Observed since – 1982

Initiated by – Jack Lang and Maurice Fleuret from France

France-based Safran Electronics & Defence and the Indian Earth intelligence firm SatSure Analytics India Pvt Ltd have signed an MoU to collaborate on Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) solutions for the Indian market.

This partnership is established under the 'France-India Year of Innovation' initiative, which aims to promote cooperation in aerospace and defence technology.

France hosted the 52nd G7 Summit under the theme "Working Together to Address Major International Challenges". PM Narendra Modi represented India at the summit.

Key outcomes of the summit included the adoption of the "Leaders' Declaration on Tackling Migrant Smuggling" to curb human trafficking and the unveiling of the "Declaration on Critical Minerals Supply Chains".

Japanese PM Takaichi introduced the "Partnership On Wide Energy and Resources Resilience (POWERR Asia)", which aims to provide nearly USD 10 billion in financial assistance to strengthen energy and critical minerals supply chains. It is to be noted that the 53rd edition of the G7 Summit is scheduled to be hosted by the USA.

PM Narendra Modi has visited France to strengthen the India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership, focusing on trade, technology, and security. He held bilateral talks with President Emmanuel Macron in Nice and participated in the 52nd G7 Outreach Summit as a guest partner.

PM Modi and President Macron co-launched the 'Bharat Innovates' initiative in Nice, featuring participation from over 120 Indian startups. At the VivaTech 2026 expo in Paris, the largest technology exhibition in Europe, India was designated as the 'AI Country of Focus'.

The visit resulted in 13 key outcomes, including the adoption of the 'India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030', the establishment of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on AI Governance, and the expansion of the UPI in France. PM Modi also addressed the Indian diaspora during the 'Bonjour Modi' event held in Paris.

India has issued a Letter of Request (LoR) to France for a government-to-government (G2G) deal worth ₹3.25 lakh crore to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Under this agreement, 94 of these aircraft will be manufactured in India by Dassault Aviation in collaboration with an Indian partner. The first Rafale-M jets are expected to be delivered by 2028.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has become the first Global Systems Integrator (GSI) to partner with the France-based Mistral AI, an AI startup.

The collaboration aims to deliver advanced enterprise generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) solutions for clients worldwide. The former will use ‘Mistral Forge’ to develop custom enterprise AI models, allowing clients to integrate their specific data and context for better decision-making.

The 79th edition of the annual Cannes International Film Festival 2026 was hosted in Cannes, France. The Palme d’Or, the highest award, was won by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu for his drama ‘Fjord’, marking his second win. The Grand Prix was awarded to Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev for his political thriller ‘Minotaur’.

The Jury Prize was conferred upon ‘The Dreamed Adventure’ by Valeska Grisebach (Germany). The Best Director award was jointly presented to Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (Spain) for ‘La Bola Negra’ and Paweł Pawlikowski (Poland) for ‘Fatherland’.

The Best Actor award was shared by Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne (Belgium) for ‘Coward’, while the Best Actress award was jointly awarded to Virginie Efira (Belgium-France) and Tao Okamoto (Japan) for ‘All Of A Sudden’.

The Best Screenplay award was presented to Emmanuel Marre (France) for ‘A Man of His Time’, and the Camera d’Or for Best First Film was awarded to ‘Ben’Imana’ by Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo (Rwanda).

The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) has partnered with the French Institute in India (IFI) to launch a 3-year initiative named “Para Elan” to promote inclusive education and empower youth through para-sports. The program aims to reach 10,000 students through activities such as awareness campaigns, specialized workshops, interactions with athletes, and adaptive sports engagements.

National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has signed a non-binding MoU with the France-based Electricite de France (EDF) to collaborate on developing new nuclear power projects in India.

This partnership marks a strategic shift for NTPC, the largest thermal power producer in India, to diversify its energy portfolio. The company aims to achieve a nuclear capacity of 30 GW by 2047.