“At home here”: Nice Mayor Eric Ciotti meets PM Modi during first leg of France visit

Nice [France], June 15 (ANI): Nice Mayor Eric Ciotti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the French city, describing him as being "at home" and expressing a desire to deepen ties with India through greater cooperation in trade, innovation and investment.
Sharing a photograph with Prime Minister Modi on X on Sunday, Ciotti said the meeting provided an opportunity to thank the Indian leader for choosing Nice as a key destination during his visit to France.
He added that the French city is open to investors and entrepreneurs for business partnerships.
"This private meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also an opportunity to warmly thank him for choosing Nice. He is at home here. Indians are always welcome in our city. Nice is open to the world, open to talent, to investors, to entrepreneurs, and to all those who wish to build partnerships for the future. It is in this spirit of friendship and trust that we wish to strengthen our ties with India," Ciotti wrote on X.
The mayor's remarks came as India and France unveiled 13 major outcomes covering innovation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), trade, education, space cooperation and strategic collaboration during the first leg of PM Modi's visit to France.
Addressing a special media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the two countries had agreed to establish a high-level mechanism aimed at doubling bilateral trade within the next five years. The two sides also adopted the India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030 and announced the creation of a Joint India-France AI Working Group to enhance cooperation on artificial intelligence and its global governance.
Among the key outcomes, India and France expanded possibilities for the use of India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in France and signed 19 agreements between institutions from the innovation ecosystems of both countries.
The visit also witnessed agreements in education, skilling and technology. The two countries agreed to establish a National Centre of Excellence for Skilling in Aeronautics and Allied Sectors at NSTI Kanpur, incubate 10 additional Indian startups at Paris-based Station F, and launch a Centre of Digital Sciences between India's Department of Science and Technology and France's INRIA.
Prime Minister Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron held bilateral talks in Nice, reaffirming their commitment to strengthening the India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership. The leaders reviewed cooperation in defence, space, civil nuclear energy, innovation and trade, while also discussing measures to boost student mobility and people-to-people exchanges.
The leaders also agreed to intensify defence collaboration through co-design, co-development and co-production of advanced technologies, while exploring new avenues of cooperation in emerging sectors such as AI, semiconductors, deep-tech, renewable energy and space exploration. (ANI)