Director of the Institut Francais in India (French Institute of India) and Counsellor of Corporation and Cultural Action at the French Embassy in India Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens said that the French government has decided to provide scholarships to 30,000 Indian students to visit France. He was speaking as the chief guest in the inaugural ceremony of the three-day international seminar on ‘Revisiting French Indology through Intercultural Approaches’ at the Malviya Mulya Anushilan Kendra in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) here on Monday. The seminar is being organised to pay homage to the French resistance fighter and writer Satprem who left France after the First World War and lived in India.

Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens emphasised that there is no difference or antagonism between these two countries (India and France) and added that in fact, they are both complementary and necessary to each other. The keynote address was delivered by Padma Shri Prof Michel Danino from Paris, who pointed out that French Indology has been marred by false             accusations and misunderstandings.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Akhilesh Kumar, the Head of the French department in BHU and Convenor of the seminar, highlighted the fact that many French writers left France and lived in India in search of truth, making their work especially spiritual. He said that the seminar aims to ignite talks and have rigorous intellectual exchanges on the knowledge transfer between France and India and it will be a great occasion to ponder over the historical and current Indo-French relations, in the year of India’s first G20 Presidency.

On the occasion, Claude Arpi presented a special address and Prof MS Pandey chaired the session, emphasising that French Indology is a rich mine that we must explore to find subjects for research. Prof Prayaas Chaturvedi welcomed the guests, and Ravindra Kumar anchored the event and presented the vote of thanks.

Prof S Shoba, Prof Kiran Chaudhari, Prof Vineeta Singh and Prof Mithilesh Singh, the Principal of Agrasen PG College, Varanasi, were also present in the seminar.

The seminar was organised by experts from France, Greece, Vietnam, and Slovenia, as well as professors and researchers from institutions such as JNU, Pondicherry University, Amity University, and Allahabad University.