New Delhi [India], March 21 (ANI): The Ambassador of France to India, Thierry Mathou, undertook a three-day visit to Chennai from March 19 to 21, 2025, to expand the scope of Indo-French cooperation projects in various fields, notably in the sectors of tech and innovation, climate change and marine pollution, as well as economic and academic exchanges, a release said.

Ambassador Mathou was accompanied by Etienne Rolland-Piegue, Consul General of France in Puducherry and Chennai, and Marguerite Salles, Political Counsellor at the Embassy of France in India, and Carl Boulanger, Economic Diplomacy Officer at the Consulate General of France in Puducherry and Chennai, during his visit to Chennai.

Ambassador Mathou began his trip, accompanied by Herve Delphin, Ambassador of the Delegation of European Union to India, by visiting Plastic Odyssey, the French vessel sailing around the world for solutions seeking to reduce marine plastic pollution and build a global network of local recycling initiatives, as per a release by the Embassy of France in India.

Plastic Odyssey's stopover in Chennai is a concrete illustration of the overarching ambition of the renewed IndoFrench partnership in innovating together for the common good, through exchanges of knowledge and jointresearch to tackle global challenges such as marine pollution. The Ambassador's visit to the vessel highlights the common priority of sustainable management of oceans and preservation of marine biodiversity, shared by France and India, as part of the Blue Economy joint roadmap. It also recalls France and India's support of thethird United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3) to be held in Nice, France, in June 2025.

During his visit, Ambassador Mathou paid a courtesy call to Thiru M.K.Stalin, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and discussed the dynamic economic cooperation and academic partnerships shared by France and the State of Tamil Nadu.

The Ambassador also extended an invitation to the Chief Minister to a high-level summit on ocean rise and coastal resilience ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference 2025.

Ambassador Mathou also met T. R. B. Rajaa, Minister for Industries, Investment Promotions and Commerce of Tamil Nadu, to hold discussions on mutual investment opportunities and strengthening bilateral relations, including regional cooperation.

With more than 150 French companies employing almost 70,000 people, and with leading French companies such as Saint-Gobain, Renault or Valeo choosing Chennai for largescale Research and Development facilities, Tamil Nadu presents growing investment opportunities for France.

In light of the India-France Year of Innovation 2026 and the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in France last month to co-chair the AI Action Summit, Ambassador Mathou and Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Hon'ble Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, discussed opportunities in tech and digital collaboration.

Fostering joint innovation is at the core of the Indo-French strategic partnership, with a key emphasis on increasing connections between Indian and French innovation ecosystems.

In line with President Macron's announcement in 2023 to host 30,000 Indian students by 2030 during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Paris as Guest of Honour for France's Bastille Day, Ambassador Mathou visited Anna University, a leading university in engineering in Tamil Nadu, to foster academic-industry partnerships and research collaborations, student exchanges.

To facilitate student mobility, France has already announced the Classes Internationales programme during President Macron's visit to Jaipur in January 2024, which offers afoundational year of immersive French language training and academic preparation for Indian students, enabling them to transition into French-taught undergraduate programmes.

Ambassador Mathou completed his tour in Chennai with a visit to Alliance Francaise de Madras, along with Herve Delphin, ahead of the French language day, where he underscored the importance of cooperation inthe French language and the support mechanisms for Indian teachers of French to strengthen people-to-people ties.

To support the efforts of Indian schools, colleges, universities and professional associations that keep the Francophonie alive in India, the Ambassador stressed developing a new approachto promoting Francophonie through research in French and Francophone studies. (ANI)