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Selfie, Dhurandhar’s ‘Aari Aari’ and diplomacy: Macron adds Bollywood touch to PM Modi’s Nice visit

French President Emmanuel Macron added a Bollywood touch to PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Nice, sharing a selfie with the Indian leader and posting a recap video featuring Dhurandhar’s song ‘Aari Aari’.

Statesman News Service | New Delhi | June 15, 2026 9:48 am

Selfie, Dhurandhar’s ‘Aari Aari’ and diplomacy: Macron adds Bollywood touch to PM Modi’s Nice visit

French President Emmanuel Macron gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nice a distinctly Indian flavour, sharing a selfie with the Indian leader and later posting a video montage set to the Bollywood song Aari Aari from the film Dhurandhar.

The posts came after PM Modi and Macron held extensive talks in the French Riviera city, where India and France announced a series of initiatives aimed at expanding cooperation in trade, technology, innovation and strategic sectors.

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Macron first shared a selfie with PM Modi on social media with a brief caption – “Nice” – a reference to both the French city hosting the leaders and the mood surrounding their meeting.

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The Prime Minister later reposted the image, writing: “Nice to have met you in Nice. A productive first leg indeed. The India-France partnership will keep scaling new heights. See you in Evian and Paris…”

The social media exchange followed a day of diplomatic engagements between the two leaders, including bilateral talks and their participation in innovation-focused events in the city.

Bollywood soundtrack adds cultural touch

Macron’s second post drew particular attention online. The French President shared a recap video from PM Modi’s visit to Nice featuring the song Aari Aari from Dhurandhar.

The montage showed the two leaders greeting each other with a hug and handshake before highlighting key moments from the Prime Minister’s engagements in the city.

The use of a Bollywood track added a cultural dimension to the diplomatic messaging and was widely noted by social media users.

Leaders review broad partnership

The two leaders met in Nice during the first leg of PM Modi’s visit to France and reviewed progress across a wide range of sectors.

According to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, their discussions covered education, mobility, civil nuclear cooperation, trade and investment, technology, defence, security, space, and people-to-people exchanges.

India and France also unveiled an innovation roadmap and a framework on artificial intelligence as part of efforts to deepen collaboration in critical and emerging technologies.

The discussions produced 13 outcomes, including a declaration on high-speed rail cooperation, a security arrangement relating to classified information and an agreement to expand India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) network to airports in Paris and Nice.

The leaders also discussed cooperation in defence manufacturing. India’s proposed acquisition of 114 Rafale fighter jets figured in the talks, with an emphasis on increasing local content in joint projects.

Technology and innovation remained a key focus throughout the visit. PM Modi and Macron jointly inaugurated the Bharat Innovates 2026 Conclave, where discussions centred on artificial intelligence, start-ups, trade, space and emerging technologies.

The meeting in Nice marked another step in the India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership, with both sides expressing their commitment to further strengthening cooperation across strategic and high-technology sectors.

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