Following the election of Emmanuel Macron as France’s new President, the Consul General of France in Mumbai, Yves Perrin, said his country was open to hosting more Indian students. “We remain confident that student mobility between France and India will continue to prosper and we expect the number of Indian students coming to our country to grow in the coming years,” Mr. Perrin said in a statement.
In the run-up to the presidential election, many feared that a victory for Mr. Macron’s far-right opponent, Marine Le Pen, would result in anti-immigration laws being tightened and quashing the aspirations of Indian students.
At a rally in Marseilles, France, on April 20, Ms. Le Pen said, “The third-world demographic push is accelerating. There is a migratory submersion which is sweeping everything before it. Will we be able to live much longer as French people in France, while entire neighbourhoods are being transformed? It is right for us not to want our country transformed into a mere corridor, a giant railway station.”
However, centrist candidate Mr. Macron is seen as welcoming outsiders in France. “There is no one culture in France. There is a culture in France, and it is diverse,” he said in February. Mr. Perrin said last year, 4,200 Indian students chose to study in France. “We want these numbers to grow further. We aim to welcome 10,000 students to France by 2020,” Mr. Perrin said.
Ishani Shukla, a prospective student who works at the Gateway House Indian Council on Global Relations, said the French election results indicated the advent of a comforting environment. “I studied at Sciences-Po, social sciences institute in Paris, and I am considering going back for my Master’s. The news of President Macron’s election might mean I will get to go for my Master’s.”
‘Hopes rise’
Kishan Madhavan, who will study international marketing at Rennes School of Business, in France, this September, said, “I am interested in learning French, which is a new language to me, and working with people from multiple cultures. I am excited to be a part of an international environment and Mr. Macron seems to stand for a welcoming, global international relationship. I think all of us planning on studying there have taken faith since his election.”
