Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed VivaTech 2026 in Paris on Thursday, 18 June 2026, speaking to one of Europe's largest technology and innovation forums about India's advances in digital infrastructure, innovation, and the startup ecosystem. The address marked another high-profile international platform on which Modi highlighted how technology is being deployed to improve citizens' lives at scale.

Context

VivaTech is an annual technology and innovation fair held in Paris that brings together global startups, investors, and policymakers. Modi's appearance at the event continues a pattern of senior Indian leadership engaging with major European technology forums to project India as a leading innovation economy and to attract foreign capital into the domestic startup ecosystem.

In his address, the Prime Minister spoke about India's 'remarkable strides in tech, innovation and startups' and underscored how technology is being used to 'bring a positive difference in people's lives' — a framing consistent with India's broader digital governance narrative.

Policy Backdrop

The address draws on two foundational government programmes. The Digital India programme, launched in 2015, expanded digital infrastructure, e-governance platforms, and citizen-facing services across the country. The Startup India initiative, announced in 2016, provided tax benefits, funding support, and regulatory easing for new ventures, helping India build one of the world's largest startup ecosystems.

Together, these programmes have formed the backbone of India's international technology pitch. Modi's VivaTech address fits within this sustained diplomatic-economic outreach, where domestic digital reforms are paired with high-visibility appearances before global investor and policymaker audiences.

India–France Technology Ties

France is a strategic partner of India with long-standing cooperation spanning technology, space, and defence. The India–France Strategic Partnership, renewed in 1998, has been periodically updated to include digital and innovation collaboration, making Paris a natural venue for such an address.

Engagements of this kind typically run alongside broader negotiations on trade, data governance, and emerging technology standards between India and the European Union or individual member states. France, as a leading EU economy, plays a significant role in shaping those conversations.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of the narrative Modi advanced at VivaTech are Indian startups seeking global visibility and foreign investment, as well as digital governance beneficiaries who stand to gain from increased international partnerships in public technology infrastructure. Global tech investors attending the Paris forum represent a direct audience for any follow-on capital flows into India's innovation economy.

The address also signals to European policymakers that India is positioning itself as a reliable, large-scale partner in the global digital economy — a message that carries weight as the EU diversifies its technology partnerships.

What's Next

Observers will watch for follow-up announcements on India–France technology memoranda of understanding and any bilateral digital cooperation commitments that emerge from the margins of VivaTech 2026. Modi's address is likely to be followed by official readouts from both governments detailing any new agreements or joint initiatives formalised during the Paris visit.

As India continues to expand its digital public infrastructure and startup support frameworks, international forums like VivaTech will remain key stages on which that story is told to the world's capital allocators and technology policymakers.