New Delhi

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced that France will streamline visa and sourcing procedures for Indian students and expand the availability of academic programmes taught in English, as he attended high-level academic and scientific meetings in the national capital.

Speaking at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus, Macron underlined France’s commitment to deepening educational cooperation with India and significantly boosting student mobility between the two countries.

“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 Narendra 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 make procedures more practical and aligned with students’ expectations, ensuring smoother access to higher education opportunities.

During his visit, Macron, along with Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda, inaugurated the Indo-French Campus on AI in Global Health at AIIMS. The initiative is aimed at strengthening bilateral collaboration in artificial intelligence-driven healthcare solutions.

Highlighting France’s academic strengths, the French President said Indian students choosing France would gain access to world-class teaching and leading research centres with strong interdisciplinary collaboration. He also stressed that a wider range of programmes would be offered in English to make French 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 to support students more effectively,” he said.

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The Indo-French Campus at AIIMS is expected to advance research, innovation and capacity building in AI for global health, while fostering deeper academic excellence and international partnerships between India and France, officials said.