Facilitative visa policy being formulated to achieve 2030 target, says French Ambassador

French Ambassador to India Thierry Mathou announced France is working to attract 30,000 Indian students by 2030 through a facilitative visa policy. The two countries are strengthening their strategic partnership, marked by PM Modi's guest of honour at the Bastille Day Parade and President Macron's visit for the G20 summit. The French Indo-Pacific Strategy was written to make France an important player in the Indian Ocean region. The Ambassador's two-day visit included the French Institute of Pondicherry and the Alliance Francaise, the oldest chapter in Asia established in 1889.

France is working on developing a facilitative visa policy to achieve the target set to attract an estimated 30,000 Indian students annually by 2030, said French Ambassador to India Thierry Mathou here on Friday.

Interacting with The Hindu at Alliance Francaise, Mr. Mathou, who is on his first visit here since assuming office in September, said youth outreach initiatives fostered by academic partnerships, university collaboration and student exchange programmes are crucial in enhancing people-to-people ties under the overarching framework of the Indo-French strategic partnership.

French President Emmanuel Macron had announced targets to attract at least 20,00 Indian students by 2025 and boost the count to 30,000 students by 2030.

“We are in the process of creating new instruments in the visa policy to attract more students and fulfil a long-term friendship,” the Ambassador said.

In addition, he highlighted the several driving forces that define and steer the bilateral strategic partnership of the two countries up to 2047. This includes the joint development of sovereign security and defence capabilities, fostering peace, stability and sustainable development in the Indo-Pacific sphere, and the tackling of the climate crisis.

“This is a good moment,” said Mr. Mathou, referring to the phase that according to him marked “an inflection point in Indo-French relations”, especially with the bilateral strategic partnership, which was strengthened with the end of the Cold War in 1998, entering the “silver jubilee phase”. It is marked by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi being received as the guest of honour for the Bastille Day Parade in Paris and French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit for the G20 summit under India’s presidency a couple of months ago.

The G20 summit had helped in addressing challenges with a global perspective.