New Delhi [India], May 14 (ANI): On the occasion of Europe Day, the European Region Action Scheme for Mobility of University Students or ERASMUS Day was celebrated with great fervour on Friday.

It is a three-day celebration. French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain accompanied by Ambassador of the European Union delegation to India and Bhutan, Ugo Astuto graced the occasion with their presence.

At the event, Lenain gave a speech, "I miss one thing in my curriculum, I didn't do Erasmus, and that's my biggest regret. It is an outstanding program that we want to celebrate tonight. It has been established in 1987 and has brought more than 12 million bright, young, hardworking students to move to discover other countries.""It has been expanded to teachers. EU has allowed many to find their way, their lives, and their jobs. You can have a wonderful and life-changing experience, and discover new horizons," the French Ambassador to India added.

Further, speaking about India, Lenain said that students from India willing to join the programme are very welcome.

"The program was open to students from India in 2004 and since then 6000 students from India roughly have been going for the programme. I am very proud as French Ambassador as Indian students prefer French destinations and I'm not surprised because we are so happy to have our old Indian students," said Lenain"We are committed to getting more and more students from India every year," Lenain further added.

Further, Ugo Astuto, who was also present at the event spoke, "Erasmus is a household name in Europe and in India because of the benefits we all reaped as a community out of this program.""This year we are going to have more than 140 students from India going to Europe. I think Erasmus is another important facet of the partnership between the European Union and India. The important aspect of this partnership is that Erasmus is focusing on some of the major challenges we are facing together, be it climate or digital," added the European Union delegation to India and Bhutan.

"By participating in Erasmus you will contribute to creating a network, people to people contact, which will serve the purpose of bringing India and the EU closer together," said Astuto.

ERASMUS is a program established in 1987 by the European Union (EU) to support education, training of youth, and sport for students from across the globe, in partner universities, in partner countries across Europe. Since then, it has grown into the largest-ever program in the world for mobility opportunities and also funds cooperation projects.

With a budget of EUR 26.2 billion (Rs 2,096,94 crore) for 2021-2027, the main aim of this program is to promote academic and youth mobility and cooperation within Europe or between Europe and other regions in the world, including Asia. (ANI)