As part of the pre-summit event for the upcoming AI Impact Summit 2026 being hosted by India, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA) to the Government of India, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Consulate General of France in Bengaluru, organised the Third India–France AI Policy Roundtable on 7 November, 2025 at the Council Chamber, Main Building, IISc Bengaluru.

The roundtable continued the ongoing Track 1.5 dialogue series on AI policy cooperation between India and France, following the previous editions held in Bengaluru and Paris earlier this year. It focused on advancing collaboration across the pillars of AI infrastructure, industry partnerships, research cooperation, and responsible AI governance, as part of the shared vision of equitable access to AI resources and inclusive innovation.

The session was co-chaired by Her Excellency Ms. Anne Bouverot, Special Envoy of the President of the French Republic for Artificial Intelligence and Shri Amit A. Shukla, Joint Secretary, Cyber Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, who highlighted the importance of strengthening bilateral collaboration in emerging technologies.

The roundtable emphasised that India’s AI ecosystem, anchored in digital public infrastructure, a vibrant startup network, and strong academic institutions, offers a scalable platform for co-development and innovation with French partners. The French delegation underlined its commitment to responsible, human-centric AI development and the importance of industrial cooperation in expanding access to AI resources and compute capacity.

The session was co-moderated by Professor Chiranjib Bhattacharyya from the Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), representing India, and Professor Francis Rousseaux from ETI Expertise France and the iSPIRT Foundation, representing France.

The discussion was followed by interventions from representatives across government, industry, startups, and academia from both countries, contributing diverse perspectives on strengthening bilateral cooperation in artificial intelligence, including Dr. Preeti Banzal, Adviser/Scientist ‘G’, OPSA; Mr. Marc Lamy, Consul General of France in Bengaluru; Ms. Kavita Bhatia, Scientist ‘G’ & Group Coordinator (AI & Emerging Technologies), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India; Mr. Emilien Coquard, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), The Scalers; Mr. Ankush Sabharwal, Founder and CEO, CoRover and BharatGPT; Mr. Alexandre Correia, Director, Sopra Steria, representing French Tech India; Mr. Rajgopal A. S., Director and CEO, NxtGen Cloud Technologies Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Vikram Balakrishna, Chief Technology Officer, Atos; Mr. Ashish Tewari, Head, Responsible AI Office, Infosys; Dr. Jyoti Joshi, Founder and CEO, Kroop.ai, and Senior Lecturer, Department of Human-Centred Computing, Monash University; Ms. Raphaëlle Sananes, Counselor, French Embassy in New Delhi; Mr. Xavier Seurre, Representative, Diplomatie Économique; Mr. Antoine Guillemet, Attaché for Scientific and University Cooperation, Institut Français India (IFI); Ms. Constance Mickiewicz, Special Advisor of the Special Envoy of France for AI at French Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Mayank Vatsa, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur; Dr. Danish Pruthi, Assistant Professor, IISc; Mr. Kunal Raj Barua, Senior Manager, Aapti Institute; Mr. Pierre Beaudoin, Economic Attaché, Consulate General of France in Bengaluru. Mr. Animesh Jain, Tech Policy Specialist, IISc and Senior Policy Fellow (adjunct), OPSA; and Mr. Kunal Thakur, Policy Analyst, IISc also participated in the discussions.

The roundtable discussions will contribute valuable insights for the upcoming AI Impact Summit 2026 as well as the India–France Year of Innovation 2026.

 

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MJPS/ST

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