BAPS Eiffel Tower Controversy Divides Indian Diaspora as India-France Space Ties Deepen
Two major India-France stories are converging in Paris this week: the international fallout from BAPS Swaminarayan's controversial Eiffel Tower visit, in which the Gujarat Hindu sect's demand to exclude female staff triggered a worker strike and a formal French government investigation, and a landmark round of India-France space industry agreements signed at the first International Space Summit in Paris, with Prime Minister Modi in attendance.
🪔 BAPS Swaminarayan Sect's Demand to Bar Women From Eiffel Tower Visit Triggers Strike, French Government Investigation
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was temporarily shut down by a worker strike after it emerged that a delegation from BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha—a Gujarat-based Hindu religious sect with ties to Prime Minister Modi—had requested that female staff be kept away or their interactions with the group limited during a private visit. The BAPS delegation was in France to consecrate a new temple in the Paris region. The Wire India reported on September 8, 2026 that the request to limit interactions with women prompted Eiffel Tower workers to launch a strike, effectively closing the landmark. French authorities subsequently opened a formal government investigation. The controversy polarized Indian diaspora communities in France: France 24 reported the row united French politicians across party lines in condemning the request as incompatible with French principles of gender equality and laicite, while it simultaneously divided the Indian diaspora—with some defending BAPS's religious customs and others expressing discomfort. Images shared by BAPS on social media showed the Mahant Swami Maharaj and the group near the Eiffel Tower. The incident raised difficult questions about gender norms, religious accommodation in public spaces, and how South Asian religious organizations are perceived when their practices collide with host-country values on the international stage. [3]
🏢 Indian and French Space Firms Sign Key Agreements at Paris Space Summit as Modi Addresses Global Gathering
The first International Space Summit in Paris delivered a landmark round of India-France space industry agreements, with 51 announcements globally representing approximately 20 billion euros. Prime Minister Modi addressed the summit, underscoring India's stature in international space affairs. India Gazette reported several headline India-related agreements. French launch-services provider RIDE! France signed an agreement with TakeMeToSpace, described as India's first designer of orbital data centres, for the launch of two new satellites—continuing a collaboration that included the integration and return of a European re-entry capsule aboard India's PSLV launcher. Safran Space France signed contracts worth more than 5 million euros with Dhruva Space, an Indian new-space company, supplying critical technologies including communication systems, inertial navigation units, optical payloads, and ground stations for India's SBS-III space-surveillance constellation—a program envisioning 52 satellites deployed between 2027 and 2030. Safran had previously contributed to the Chandrayaan-III lunar mission. U-Space France and India's AXISCADES also signed a commercial cooperation agreement targeting the Indian microsatellite market. For the Indian diaspora in France, these agreements confirm the depth of the Franco-Indian strategic relationship and India's rising position as a sovereign space power, providing a counterpoint to the week's cultural controversy surrounding BAPS and the Eiffel Tower. [5]
Sources: [3] The Wire India · [5] indiagazette.com