Club Young Leaders India-France

The Ambassador of France to India, H.E. Mr Alexandre Ziegler, today hosted the second batch of the Club Young Leaders India-France, launched by French President Emmanuel Macron during his State visit to India, exactly a year ago.

For the second year, the Club will bring together thirteen outstanding individuals aged between 20 and 40 years, from various parts of the country, who have proved themselves in their respective fields, such as digital affairs, business, cuisine, journalism, architecture, services industry, research.

The 2019 batch includes, among others: Sridevi Raghavan, founder of Amelio, a centre providing support to pregnant women who are professionally active; Rohan Ganapathy, who works on innovative solutions for rocket propulsion systems; Priyam Chatterjee, a France-trained chef known for his experimental cuisine restaurant in Delhi; Ananta Ganjoo, an architect who has worked on leading urbanization and community regeneration projects; Ritesh Agarwal, who launched the Oyo Rooms hotel aggregator network; Apar Gupta, a lawyer and co-founder of Internet Freedom Foundation.

Congratulating the new batch, H. E. Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India, said, “They were chosen to be a part of this Club because they are the future of India – a country we love dearly – and the future of the Indo-French bilateral relationship. We believe France can be a partner in the development and spread of Indian talents. India and France are two pluralist, liberal democracies – which is also what lies behind our choice of India. Our countries share a number of common traits, which makes our peoples’ exchanges simple, natural and warm. I’m sure that the 2018 batch of Club Young Leaders India-France, which went to France last autumn, will be able to vouch for this!”

The 2019 batch will be invited to Paris for a week-long visit in October. Their programme, which will be drawn up by the Embassy of France in India along with Campus France, will not only include collective meetings, but also individual ones tailored according to the Young Leaders’ areas of interest.

Last October, the 2018 batch was invited to the Elysée Palace, where they were received by H.E. Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs. They also held discussions with young French parliamentarians. The 2018 Young Leaders’ experience in Paris ranged from researchers from Institut Pasteur, designers at the iconic Hermès manufacturing workshops, to makers of FabLabs of Station F (the biggest startup campus in the world).

The personalised programme endeavours to concretely foster synergies and exchanges between the chosen thirteen Indian Young Leaders and leading French professionals, as our two countries stand to gain by increasing mutual understanding. The programme also aims to create a gateway to France and Europe.