Relations > Educational Exchanges and Cooperation

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The Indo-French Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) also covers the bilateral cooperation in the field of education, and France actively promotes French language and culture through various programmes. Among other initiatives, the CEP promotes institutional exchange programs between French Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (MSH) and the Indian Council for Social Sciences Research (ICSSR), UGC, Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) and Indian Council for Political Research (ICPR) on a regular basis. Similar cooperation also exists between the Indian Council for Medical Research and its French counterpart INSERM and between the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA).

Apart from assisting the Institute of French Studies, Pondicherry, France also offers scholarships for studying French language, hotel management, public administration, fine arts, mass communication etc. These scholarships provide assistance to about 40 Indian students every year, for periods ranging from one to fourteen months. In turn, India provides the services of an Indian professor of Sanskrit at the Sorbonne University of Paris, and offers, on an average, 16 one-year scholarships to French students wanting to specialise in Indian studies, including two scholarships for the study of Hindi. The French Government has, of late, been taking an active interest to attract a greater number of Indian students for higher studies in France, and "Higher Education in France" fairs have been organised in India in 1998, 1999 and 2003.