Trade between India and France has increased slightly to USD 20 billion, primarily focused on defence and aerospace: Coumar Ananda

Ananda said, "The trade between the two countries has been below USD 20 billion, which used to earlier be in the range of USD 15-18 billion, and was always seen to be used on the defence, aircraft, the air force, with mostly the industries of defence and aeronautics seen to be involved. "

He added, "I think there is larger potential - I feel there's a certain imbalance we see when we note Indian companies present in France. We have less than 100 Indian companies present in France and there is much more potential. Whereas, historically, French companies have been quite present in India - more than a thousand companies are present in India, with some of them being here for more than the last 100 years, some more than that as well. There are a lot of opportunities that Indian companies look at in France."

"Today, we are in a situation where France has laid a red carpet for Indian investors. We should benefit from that. It's not even restricted to certain industries - it's now across France. Not just the Paris region, but more on the larger scale. For us, this is India moment in France. There is openness from France side and there is interest from Indian side also to collaborate more with France," Ananda tools ANI.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is co-chairing the AI Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron and will address the India-France CEOs forum during his visit to France scheduled from February 10 to February 12.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in a press briefing on Friday, emphasised the growth of Artificial Intelligence and prioritised India's expectation from the summit that AI applications should be designed, developed, deployed and used in safe, humane , responsible and trustworthy manner.

This is Prime Minister Modi's sixth official visit to France. (ANI)