India and its people have taught me so much: Outgoing French envoy Lenain

New Delhi [India]: France’s Ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain, on Friday thanked New Delhi, terming the country’s energy, optimism, and confidence in the friendship between the two nations as “invaluable.” He said India and its people have taught him so much and he will cherish his experience of serving in India for the past four years.

Lenain, whose four-year tenure in India ends soon, made the remarks in a video posted on X. He will take up his next assignment in Brazil.

In the video, he shared glimpses of his tenure in India, noting that the two nations have made progress in the Indo-Pacific.

Lenain said in the video, “To all of you who have followed me during these 4 years as Ambassador of France to India: thank you. Your energy, optimism and confidence in the friendship has been invaluable. India and its people have taught me so much – I will always cherish this experience.”

“Dear Friends, Au Revoir, Today, I am leaving India after four wonderful years in your country. And I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have been following me, you have been sharing ideas, your energy, your optimism. It’s been a great help. And our two countries have achieved new progress. Made progress in the Indo-Pacific, we have been steering through during the pandemic of COVID and we all know the suffering for our two peoples,” he added.

He recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France to attend the Bastille Day Parade and also spoke about French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India to attend the G20 Summit. He stated that there were “very good exchanges” between PM Modi and President Macron.

Further, in the video, the French envoy said, “And more recently there was a superb exchange of visits: Prime Minister Modi going to Paris for Bastille Day as Guest of Honour and during the visit of President Macron last weekend for the G20.

There were very good exchanges with PM Modi and a new plan for further progress in the coming months, coming years. Now, I am heading to a country that is very close to India, also Brazil. And I am sure that my knowledge of India will help a lot, and maybe we can make further connections so please keep in touch in the future.”

President Macron and Prime Minister Modi held a bilateral meeting in Delhi on September 10, on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Following the meeting, PM Modi said they reaffirmed their commitment to take India-France relations to newer heights of progress.

PM Modi posted on X, “A very productive lunch meeting with President @EmmanuelMacron. We discussed a series of topics and look forward to ensuring India-France relations scale new heights of progress.”

The two leaders reiterated their commitment to strengthen defence cooperation through partnership in the design and expansion of production in India and called for early finalisation of the Defence Industrial Roadmap.

According to the joint statement, India and France “reiterated their commitment to strengthen the defence cooperation through partnership in design, development, testing and manufacture of advanced defence technologies and platforms, and expand production in India, including for third countries in Indo-Pacific and beyond. In this context, they also called for early finalisation of the Defence Industrial Roadmap.”

“Acknowledging the strength of the India-France partnership, founded in deep trust, shared values, belief in sovereignty and strategic autonomy, a resolute commitment to international law and principles enshrined in the UN Charter, an abiding faith in multilateralism and a mutual pursuit of a stable multi-polar world, both leaders emphasized the need to expand their collaboration to address regional and global challenges,” the joint statement read.

PM Modi and French President Macron reiterated their “unwavering commitment to collectively serve as a force of good, carrying the message of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ i.e. ‘one earth, one family, one future’, during tumultuous times reshaping the global order.”