France will simplify visa and sourcing procedures for Indian students and expand English-taught courses, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday during high-level academic and scientific meetings in the national capital.
Speaking at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus, Macron highlighted France’s commitment to strengthening educational ties with India and increasing student mobility.
“We want to welcome more Indian students and have more French students coming here. We are currently speaking about 10,000 per year. We have decided with Prime Minister Modi to increase this number to 30,000 per year by 2030. From the French side, we will simplify the sourcing and the visa process,” Macron said.
He added that France would streamline procedures to make them more practical and aligned with students’ expectations.
During his visit, Macron and Union Health Minister JP Nadda inaugurated the Indo-French Campus on AI in Global Health at AIIMS, a project aimed at advancing research, innovation, and capacity building in artificial intelligence-driven healthcare solutions.
Highlighting France’s academic strengths, Macron said Indian students would have access to world-class teaching, leading research centres, and strong interdisciplinary collaboration. He also emphasized that France would offer diverse academic programmes in English to make higher education more accessible.
“We will clearly streamline the approach in order to meet expectations and make it much more practical for students. We will establish better connections in order to support students more effectively,” Macron said.
He added, “I would also like to tell all Indian students who come to France that we have best-in-class teaching and access to research centres with strong interdisciplinary collaboration. I want you to be sure that we can offer you different approaches in English.”
The Indo-French Campus at AIIMS is expected to foster deeper academic excellence and international partnerships between the two nations while advancing research in AI for global health.
