India in France Club: “Our Countries Have Been Strategic Partners for 25 Years”

The India in France Club aims not only at Indian graduates and students in France, but also at all alumni interested in Indo-French relations. Volunteer Co-Heads Astride Madevadasse (EXEC PROG 19) and Guragam Singh (E22) tell us more – and invite you to join their group!

ESSEC Alumni: Can you give us a brief overview of relations between France and India?

Astrid Madevadasse: France and India share democratic values and a belief in multilateralism to tackle global challenges. Accordingly, they launched a strategic partnership as far back as 1998 encompassing defence & counter-terrorism, civil nuclear energy, space, digital technologies, and more recently Indo-Pacific co-operation. The 25^th anniversary of this collaboration witnessed high-level political exchanges. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended Bastille Day celebrations in Paris as the guest of honour in 2023, and President Emmanuel Macron was Chief Guest at India’s 75^th Republic Day celebrations in 2024. They also launched a Horizon 2047 Roadmap setting an ambitious and broad-ranging course for their countries’ bilateral relationship up until 2047, the centenary year of India's independence and of diplomatic Indo-French relations.

EA: How do those Indo-French relations translate into economic terms?

Guragam Singh: While France considers India an important market for its products and is looking to increase the number of joint ventures and investments in and from India, the partnership could benefit from a more concerted effort. The amount of foreign direct investment from France to India in fiscal year (FY) 2024 was estimated to be USD 400 million, which is a significant decrease from about USD 1.3 billion in FY 2021. On the other hand, Indian investment projects in France have almost reached their pre-pandemic numbers in 2023, boosted by France’s rank as Europe's top foreign investment hub after years of reform. 

EA: Does the European Union play a part in this dynamic?

A. Madevadasse: The European Union has recognized that the EU-India bilateral relationship has “not yet reached its full potential”. Discussions on a Free Trade Agreement between India and the EU have been on since 2007 but issues such as geographical indications for agricultural products, market access, intellectual property rights, customs duties, and the movement of professionals continue to prevent the deal from materializing. Another round of talks is ongoing. Regardless of these issues, the international competitiveness of India’s manufacturing sector also needs to improve, which remains another challenge.

EA: Where does ESSEC stand regarding the Indo-French relations?

G. Singh: ESSEC’s Master in Management has been an academic partner of India’s four best management schools since 2006: Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Lucknow. ESSEC’s Global BBA programme also has partnerships with Ashoka University in New Delhi, and Symbiosis International University in Pune. The school also regularly organises student outreach, awareness and recruitment programmes in various institutions all across the country. In the recent year only, Vincenzo Vinzi has been in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. This strategy pays off, especially in the pre-experience programmes, with the enrolment of about 150 to 200 Indian students each academic year. And this might increase as the Horizon 2047 Roadmap emphasises student mobility: France is set to welcome 20,000 Indian students by 2025 and 30,000 by 2030. 

EA: What are the activities of ESSEC Alumni’s India in France Club?

A. Madevadasse: We want to act as a bridge between the 2 nations. We’d like to promote Indian culture and business opportunities in India for those who want to consider India as a new market. At the same time, we also want to promote French culture and its economic environment to Indian students and companies entering the French market. With that in mind, we aim to bring conferences, round tables, cultural and networking events to our members, in collaboration with relevant partners such as the Indian Business Club, The Franco-Indian Chamber of Commerce, and Business France.

EA: What are your projects for the club?

G. Singh: The priority is to gather more members: the bigger the community, the better the network! And the more sponsors we can get, hopefully from large Indian companies based in France and Europe. As part of this ambition, we want to extend our reach to European and UK alumni, launching hybrid events they can join online. We are also thinking about inviting other schools’ alumni (Sciences Po, Centrale, HEC, INSEAD…) to our events. Last but not least, we are looking into collaborating with other ESSEC Alumni’s chapters (UK…) and clubs (Digital, Cinema…) in the near future. 

Join our India in France Club and our 125 clubs and chapters!

Interview by Louis Armengaud Wurmser (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni 

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