Clean energy, AI areas of possible partnership; French schools exploring opening campuses in India, says Consul General

Anju Chazot was awarded with the Chevalier dans L’Ordre des Palmes Academiques, which is the highest civilian honour bestowed by the French Republic, for her services in the field of academics, culture and education. Anju is the director of Mahatma Gandhi International School (MGIS) in Ahmedabad. Addressing mediapersons, Anju said, “What MGiS has done, much of it has found a place in the National Education Policy.”

Pascal Chazot, founding trustee of MGIS and French civil servant – who had also served as the director of Alliance Francaise in Ahmedabad – was awarded the Medaille d’honneur des Affaires etrangeres (President’s medal) for bravery, bestowed by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. Pascal was awarded the honour taking part in the rescue efforts during the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai.

Speaking to The Indian Express about the differing stances of nations at global platforms vis-a-vis their participation in defence and arms sale or exchange, especially in the context of Russia Ukraine war, Sere-Charlet said: “Russia has launched a neocolonialistic war against a free and independent country… Iran and North Korea seem to be providing a lot of weapons to Russia to nurture the war against Ukraine…”

“They did not condemn the war… countries strongly supporting the Russian aggression are very limited, five or six of them. A good number of countries abstained and for them it is business as usual. Many countries condemned it but it doesn’t mean that all the companies in these countries are organised or determined to block any exportations to Russia.”

“What is also interesting to observe is Russia manages to buy dual use components, so you can buy washing machine that use chips, which will be used (in weapons)… this is very difficult to control because you are not going to stop production or exports of washing machines but at the same time, we know that they may be diverted and used in a very negative way by Russia,” he added.

Sere-Charlet also spoke on French academic institutions being open to launching campuses in India. “It is a new opportunity and some French schools are considering the idea. I met at least three schools tghat are considering the possibility of opening campuses in India but it is still in process. Usually, you need an Indian partner to be efficient. We would not be surprised that French campuses open in India in the coming years.”

“We have a Choose France Tour, which is a fair held where Indian students can discover what French schools offer, regularly. This year in Ahmedabad, we had 24 French schools and universities present, which is the maximum we have had for the city so far. So, there is a strong interest. There is room for improvement (for attracting Indian students to France) because we get only 7,000 Indian students every year among the around 400,000 international students. So, we need more Indian students,” Sere-Charlet added.