Student mobility & the appointment of 15 Alumni Ambassadors [fr]

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New Delhi, 13 April 2021

Ladies, Gentlemen

I apologise for arriving late but I was with my colleague, Minister Jaishankar, your External Affairs Minister, and we had so many things to discuss and our relationship is so strong that we got late.

However, I very much wanted this latest visit, which is my 17th official visit to India, to begin with you because the history, the background of our cooperation, of our partnerships has always been based on sharing knowledge, sharing ideas, and academic exchanges.

President Macron, on the occasion of his last visit to Delhi, signed a number of agreements to promote young Indian and French talents enabling them to enjoy an international and professional experience in each other’s countries. It is on this basis that we launched the Young Leaders programmein France. We had the pleasure of hosting the Young Indian Leaders who came to France.

It was a commitment made by both our leaders and it is based on their decision that we will be launching the France-India Foundation. And it is also based on this that we had the idea of appointing you, as Alumni Ambassadors for studies in France.

Please allow me to first and foremost thank you for your commitment, which follows your experience in France. You come from very different backgrounds, all outstanding in sports, music, creativity, fashion, the economic field, businesses, culture. You are very much the fruit of this excellent relationship between France and India. So thank you very much for your personal commitment and thank you for accepting to be ambassadors for studies in France. And based on your own experience, thank you for informing those around you, the milieus you frequent, through the media or the different means at your disposal, on how interesting, how promising, it is to come and study in France for young Indians.

We set ourselves a target – it is to have of 20,000 Indian students in higher education institutions in France by 2025. And we will make it. We will make it, thanks, in particular, to you, and to your dynamic experience and energy. And as you know, we will support these students during their stay in France so that as they may fully live this intellectual, cultural and human experience. We very much would like others to go through this experience of a friendship which you’ve seen and enjoyed, to discover the best of France- our heritage, our museums, our theatres, our restaurants, when they reopen.

Living in France is a true experience, and it is also an opportunity to meet others.

The same goes for young French people coming to India to discover your own universities, and we shall also work to that end.

Such is the purpose of our meeting. It is about thanking you, getting the ball rolling, giving you the impetus, appointing you as Alumni Ambassadors, to bring French and the Indian youth even closer to ensure that the exchanges between our countries are even more fruitful because they grounded on the youth.

Thank you for your presence and all the best for your adventures!