French President Emmanuel Macron praised India’s digital payment infrastructure, UPI (Unified Payments Interface), stating that India has built a digital system unmatched by any other country, at the AI Impact Summit 2026. He said that creating digital identity and fast payment systems for more than 1.4 billion people is a significant achievement.
Macron made these remarks while speaking at the AI Impact Summit 2026 held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. He described India as a leading example of how technology can transform the lives of ordinary citizens.
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Highlights India Stack, digital identity and UPI transactions
At the beginning of his speech, Macron shared a personal anecdote. He said, "I started with a story about a street vendor in Mumbai. Ten years ago, the world told India that 1.4 billion people could not be brought into the digital economy. India proved them wrong."
He further stated, "India built something that no other country in the world has built. A digital identity for 1.4 billion people. A payment system that now processes 20 billion transactions every month. A health infrastructure that has issued 500 million digital health IDs. Here are the results. They call it the India Stack Open Interoperable Sovereign. That is what this summit is about. We are clearly at the beginning of a huge acceleration, and you perfectly described it during your interventions."
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India’s growing role in AI and digital technology
Macron said that such digital infrastructure will support rapid technological expansion in the coming years. According to him, India has already established a strong foundation in artificial intelligence and digital technology, and its global role in these sectors is expected to grow further.
