New Delhi

In order to boost the student exchange programme, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Wednesday said her country targets to enrol 20,000 Indian students in higher institutions by 2025.

Addressing students in Delhi, she said, "People-to-people contacts are essential... We want 20,000 Indian students in France by 2025. We're starting from something close to 5000... it is very ambitious but between India and France, the sky is the limit."

Recognizing the benefit of bilateral student mobility, France maintains the objective of 20,000 Indian students by 2025 which will create opportunities for new businesses, start-ups and innovation between the two countries.

During his final leg of his 3-nation tour to Europe in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, where the two leaders discussed ways to jointly increase the mobility of students, professionals and skilled workers while strengthening their efforts to combat irregular migration between the two countries.

In her first official visit to India, Colonna stressed the mobility of students between the two nations and said that "people to people is key to a strong relationship."

The French foreign minister is on a two-day visit to India.

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She aims to move forward with an ambitious agenda to deepen and expand the Indo-French strategic partnership ahead of its 25th anniversary next year.