India, Feb. 18 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday jointly inaugurated the 'India-France Year of Innovation' and the 'India-France Innovation Forum', hours after announcing to elevate the decades-old ties between the two countries to a "special strategic partnership".

"Mumbai is the city of dreams. I can't think of a better place to launch the India-France Year of Innovation," Macron said while addressing the innovation forum at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

He underscored India's contribution to innovation by naming Indian CEOs who were leading global companies, saying, "The CEO of Alphabet is Indian. The CEO of Microsoft is Indian. The CEO of IBM is Indian. The CEO of Adobe is Indian. The CEO ...