Indo-French Exchange

Madame Thuaudet, Deputy Head of Mission, greets Indian and French Exchange Students at the French Embassy, New Delhi

As part of its continuing initiatives to promote French amongst young learners, the French Embassy welcomed students from DPS Gurgaon – Sector 45 and its French partner school Cité Scolaire Saint Exupery, Bourg St Maurice, Savoie Rhone Alps Region on 25 October 2018.

The French students and teachers are visiting DPS Gurgaon from 24 October to 09 November 2018, as part of the cultural and linguistic exchange between the two schools.

Madame Claire Thuaudet, Deputy Head of Mission, received 32 French and Indian students along with Ms Sarabjit Lall, Head of French Language Department at DPS Gurgaon and Ms Keri Benta and Ms Veronique Repplinger from Cité Scolaire Saint Exupery.

Initiated in 2011, the exchange is an annual feature, which has been continuing for 7 years with growing enthusiasm amongst students and parents on both sides. The successful continuity of the exchange has been possible due to unwavering support from the two schools' Principals, Ms Aditi Misra and Mr Regis Bertholet.

Madame Thuaudet interacted with the French and Indian exchange students with equal warmth and enthusiasm, sharing her views on the importance of cultural exchanges at school and university levels. She enlightened the visiting delegation with the fact that Indo-French relations have been gaining momentum in various fields such as business, strategic alliances, education, culture and joint research programmes. The number of Indian students going to France for higher studies in various fields has been growing and is expected to touch 10,000 students by next year.

She emphasized the significance of the exchange and encouraged the students to benefit from such opportunities, by learning about the language and culture of the country they are visiting and even pursuing higher education in their partner country. This would pave the way for a stronger bond between the two countries.

The students were very encouraged and motivated by her vision and perspectives. They asked her questions on the challenges faced by developing economies and how to resolve them.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Madame Thuaudet for taking the time to answer all the students' queries and we look forward to continued guidance and similar interactions in the future. We would also like to thank Mr Jatinder Singh and Ms Smriti Pahwa for their continued support in the coordination of the exchange