The Ideas Page: Like Nandan Nilekani for Aadhaar, India’s AI moment needs a leader 9 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 IN ‘UNPREDICTABLE’ wORLD, PARTNERSHIP FRAMED AS ‘PROGRESS, STABILITY’ 99 127 IndiaandFranceupgradetiesto specialglobalstrategicpartnership 157 76 Happening today lPRESIDENT DROUPADI Murmu will witness the International Fleet Review at Visakhapatnam. The exercise is likely to feature INS Vikrant leading a line-up of over 50 Indian vessels. lDENMARK'S KING is scheduled to visit Greenland as the Nordic nation asserts its sovereignty over the Arctic island in response to US President Donald Trump's push to buy it. lUNION HOME MINISTER Amit Shah is scheduled to visit poll-bound West Bengal and participate in several programmes at the ISKCON temple in Mayapur. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm PushforRafale indigenous content,MRO facilitiesfor aeroengines Defence to critical minerals, tech to innovation: 21 major outcomes of talks between Modi and Macron in Mumbai Vallabh Ozarkar & Shubhajit Roy Mumbai, New Delhi, February 17 INDIA AND France elevated their bilateral ties to a Special GlobalStrategicPartnershipfollowing talks in Mumbai Tuesday between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. With the meeting resulting in 21 important outcomes in areas ranging from defence to criticalminerals,techandinnovation to startups, advanced materialstohealthandskilling, Modiunderlinedthat“thispartnership will provide stability andprogress”in“thiseraofunpredictable global dynamics”. Macron said India is one of the most trusted partners of France. “From Rafale jets to submarines, we are expanding defence cooperation,” he said. Thetwoleadersvirtuallyinaugurated the H125 light utility helicopter final assembly line l BOOsTINTIEs H125 LIGHT UTILITY Helicopter Final Assembly Line in Karnataka inaugurated Amrita Nayak Dutta New Delhi, February 17 The two leaders also launched: l India–France Innovation Forum lIndo-French Centre for AI in Health lIndo-French Centre for Digital Science and Technology lNational Centre of Excellence for Skilling in Aeronautics of Tata-Airbus in Karnataka. “We take pride in the fact that,together,IndiaandFrance will manufacture in India the world’sonlyhelicoptercapable of flying to the heights of Mount Everest and export it to the entire world,” Modi said. Thefacility,accordingtothe Ministry of External Affairs, will strengthen India’s aeronautical manufacturing capabilities, lead to skilling of the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM Narendra Modi with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai, Tuesday. SANKHADEEP BANERjEE RELATED REPORT, PAGE 11 I have known Imran Meta raises concerns over 3-hr from time he was 17, timeline for content takedown treat him humanely: Gavaskar urges Pak THE6THIndia-FranceAnnual Defence Dialogue, held in Bengaluru Tuesday, witnessed a strong push for enhancing indigenous content — up to 50 per cent — in the Rafale fighter aircraft to be manufactured in India, and for setting up Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) facilities in India for different varieties of French aero engines, senior officials told The Indian Express. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpartCatherineVautrin,whocochairedtheannualdefencedialogue, discussed a range of bilateralsecurityanddefenceissues,includingpriorityareasfor co-development and co-production of military equipment, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 business as Usual By EP UNNY PUNE LAND DEAL Govt probe panel finds no role of Parth Pawar, points to official lapses Vallabh Ozarkar Mumbai, February 17 AN OFFICIAL probe into the controversial 41-acre land deal in Pune’s Mundhwa area has found no criminal liability on the part of Parth Pawar, son of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, the late Ajit Pawar – but recommended action against two revenue officials for procedural lapses related to the transaction, The Indian Express has learnt. The report prepared by a committee headed by IAS officer Vikas Shankar Kharage, nowAdditionalChiefSecretary (Revenue), has been submitted to the Revenue Department underCabinetMinisterChandrashekhar Bawankule and is expectedtobeplacedbeforeChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Bawankule confirmed that “the report of the committee...whichwasappointedtoinquire into the irregularities in the land purchase deed per- SOME OF cricket’s most celebrated figures, from Sunil Gavaskar to Greg Chappell, set aside old rivalries on Tuesday and signed a joint appeal demandingthatPakistan’sgovernment treat the imprisoned former prime minister and World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan with basic dignity, provideurgentmedicalcareand guarantee fair access to courts. The open letter was signed by14formercaptainsspanning sixdecadesofthegame,including Mike Atherton (England); Allan Border, and Ian and Greg Chappell (Australia); Gavaskar and Kapil Dev (India); Clive Lloyd (West Indies); and John Wright (New Zealand). Imran Khan has been in custody since August 2023 “Greg Chappell messaged askingifIwouldsigntheappeal along with the other former skippers and I agreed straightaway,” Gavaskar told The Indian Express. “I have known Imran since he was 17 years old when India wasplayingatWorcester...after »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Shubhajit Roy Soumyarendra Barik Sriram Veera taining to Survey Nos. 88/1 to 88/26 at Mouje Mundhwa, Taluka Pune City, District Pune has been submitted to me”. The findings are expected to clear the way for Parth Pawar’s likely nomination to the Rajya Sabha.NCPandBJPsourcesindicated that Parth is set to take over the Parliament seat currently held by his mother, Sunetra Pawar, who became Deputy CM after the death of Ajit Pawarinaplanecrashlastmonth. The controversy over the land deal centres on the purchase of 41 acres of Mahar Rahman takes charge in Dhaka, PM Modi extends India invite New Delhi, February 17 Mumbai, February 17 Findings expected to clear the way for Parth Pawar’s likely nomination to the Rajya Sabha New Delhi, February 17 RAISING CONCERNS over India’s recently notified social media rules which prescribe strict content takedown timelines, social media giant Meta, which operates platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said Tuesday that the norms might be “challenging” to comply with from an operational standpoint. Rob Sherman, Meta vice president policy and deputy chief privacy officer, told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing India-AI Impact Summit:“Operationally,threehours (thetakedownwindow)isgoing to be really challenging.” According to Sherman, the government had not consulted withtheindustrybeforenotifying the rules. “Traditionally, the Indian governmenthasbeenquiteconsultativewhenitcomestothese things. This is an example TARIQUE RAHMAN, chief of the centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was sworn in TuesdayasthenewPrimeMinister of Bangladesh, 18 months after the overthrow of the government of Sheikh Hasina. Rahman, 60, was administered the oath of office at a ceremony held in the South Plaza of the parliament building in Dhaka. The last time the BNP was in power, from 2001 to 2006, Rahman’s mother KhaledaZiawasPrimeMinister.She died in December 2025, days after Rahman returned to the country from the UK where he was in self-exile for 17 years. LokSabhaSpeakerOmBirla was among the dignitaries who attended the swearing-in ceremony. Representing India, Birla, in a post on X later, said he had “a constructive meeting” with Rahman. He said he handed over a personal letter During the AI summit at Bharat Mandapam, Tuesday. PRAVEEN KHANNA where I think we are concerned that had they come to us and talked to us about it, we would have talked about some of the operationalchallenges,”hesaid. Last week, the IT Ministry notifiedamendmentstotheInformation Technology (IntermediaryGuidelinesandDigital MediaEthicsCode)Rules,2021. Oneofthechangesithasimplementedisthatsocialmediaplatforms must now remove prob- lematic content within twothreehoursasopposedto 24-36 hours before. Industry executives had earlier said that the new timeline is the shortest takedown window prescribed byanygovernmentintheworld. Although the rules have set alarm bells ringing within tech companies, government officials have said that there were enough discussions with the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE BIG PICTURE A gAmE cALLEd Footy pAgE 13 Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla hands over a letter from PM Narendra Modi to Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman in Dhaka. ANI EDITOrIAl PAGE WIthbANgLAdESh, AmomENtto rEcALIbrAtE pAgE 8 from Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveying his wishes to Rahman and inviting him to “visit India at the earliest convenience”. “Iextendedwarmcongratulations on behalf of the people of India and reaffirmed our »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l DAYS AFTER WIFE’S ELECTION AS CORPORATOR, HC RULES CIVIC BODY MUST REBUILD FAHIM’S HOUSE OR COMPENSATE HIM One year after house demolished, life takes a turn for Nagpur riot accused Ankita Deshkar compensate the family. As he waits for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) IT’S BEEN a roller-coaster year to get back to the court by for Fahim Shamim Khan. March 4, Khan says he is exNamed prime accused in the pecting the riot charges against Nagpur communal violence of him to also collapse. On the evening of March 17, March 2025, he was jailed and his family house demolished 2025, violence had broken out by the authorities, claiming il- in Mahal, in the heart of Naglegal construction. Four pur, following protests by VHP and Bajrang Dal months later, Khan PAGE 1 membersagainstthe got bail; last month, tombofMughalEmhis wife Alisha beperor Aurangzeb locame a corporator in the very same municipal body cated in Aurangabad, leaving that demolished their house; one dead and 38 injured, inand last week, the Nagpur cluding 33 policemen. Khan was arrested on the Bench of the High Court directed the corporation to either allegationofincitingthecrowd. reconstruct Khan’s house or Soon after, bulldozers rolled in Nagpur, February 17 anchor The house of Fahim Shamim Khan that was demolished after the violence in March 2025; (right) the family’s present place of residence. to pull down his house located in the congested Sanjay Bagh Colony, and registered in the nameofhis65-year-oldmother Mehrunnisa Khan. Nearly a year later, the rubble remains on the spot, while Khan, his wife and three triplets live in a rented tin-roof shelter next to it. The NMC jus- tified the demolition as valid, claiming that portions of the house were unauthorised and that the land lease held by the Khan family had expired. However, Khan says, the demolitionteamthatarrivedin the early hours of the morning removed not just “the unauthorised sections” but the entire house. “We had submitted a complaintaboutsafetyhazards over a year ago, and it is still pending. But when it came to my house, the notice was forced into my mother’s hands onaholiday,whengovernment offices are closed, and the demolition began even before official working hours.” Hoursafterthebulldozersarrived, the High Court stayed the demolition, saying that, prima facie, due process —including themandatory15-daynoticeperiod laid down by the Supreme Court — had not been followed. Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Chaudhari even tenderedanunconditionalapology before the court, claiming that civic officials were unaware of the Supreme Court directive. Apart from Khan, the NMC sent notices to structures owned by two other families whose relatives were named in theriots,partiallypullingdown abalconyinonecase.TheNMC action against them was also stayed by the High Court. Denying the riot charges against him, Khan says he had visitedthepolicestationearlier that day to submit a complaint regarding the alleged burning of a cloth bearing Quranic verses. He was not present in Mahal when clashes broke out, he says, adding that his mobile location data supports this. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2