puducherry the french government will hold the second edition of the paris peace forum in november said consul general of france in puducherry and chennai catherine suardspeaking at the french national day celebrations at the french consulate in the presence of chief minister v narayanasamy on monday suard said the forum would be a global platform for discussion and debates on global governance culture innovation and educationshe said french president emmanuel macron launched the paris peace forum realising that democracy needs peace to develop the forum which aimed at safeguarding peace in a more and more complex and dangerous world was launched on the centenary of the 1918 armistice day last year india and france share many values and principles as democracies our two countries stand for multilateralism international law cooperation between states twenty one years after signing a strategic partnership we are more than just partners and we address new challenges together in the indopacific region in space in cyberspace in confronting terrorism in facing climate change particularly with the international solar alliance it is in this spirit that president macron has invited prime minister modi for a visit to france for the g7 summit at the end of august this year she saidsuard said the french consulate with the support of the puducherry government will hold the second edition of the francophones de pondicherry a festival featuring a series of events including performing arts shows dance theatre performance music and panel discussions on indofrench connections among others from march 21 to 29 next yearsuard said 10000 indian students choose france for higher studies this year a historic figure a year ahead of the 2020 target set by our leaders she saidtoday almost one million indians are learning french across the country be it in alliance francaise in schools or universities she saidshe said the two countries signed an agreement this year for mutual recognition of academic degrees to ensure smooth transition of students from india to france and vice versa she said france which remains the first tourist destination worldwide attracted eight lakh indian tourists last year twice as many as three years ago