Washington: India and the US have agreed to
expand educational exchanges that will fuel their "knowledge-
based" economies and announced the launch of USD 10 million
`Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative` to increase
cooperation between universities of the two countries.
The two countries also agreed to "dramatically" expand
the Fullbright-Nehru programme that brings students and
scholars of both the countries together, especially in science
and technology.
After their 90-minute talks at the White House
yesterday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack
Obama announced the launch of the Obama-Singh 21st Century
Knowledge Initiative which will provide USD 10 million in
combined funding to increase university linkages and support
junior faculty development between US and Indian universities.
"We agreed to expand the educational exchanges that
will fuel our knowledge-based economies. We are increasing
ties and exchanges between universities and community colleges
as part of a new Obama-Singh or Singh-Obama 21st century
knowledge initiative. We think it`s appropriately named,"
Obama said at a joint press conference with Singh.
In his opening remarks, the Prime Minister said India
and the US have decided to give a fresh impetus to
collaboration in the fields of education and health.
The Prime Minister said: "We will deepen our ongoing
cooperation in frontier areas of science and technology,
nucleat power and space. This will open new opportunities for
our universities and laboratories and create human capital to
meet the global needs of the future."
The two countries also decided to expand the
bi-national Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship Program through a 45
per cent increase in funding by each government to support
increased exchanges of students and scholars in priority
fields, bringing total support for these scholarships to USD
6.7 million this year.
Obama said: "To advance our historic Food Security
Initiative, American and Indian researchers will collaborate
to improve agricultural output and reduce hunger, not only in
India, where enormous strides have been made, but around the
world. And India has much to teach the developing world in
terms of achieving food sufficiency."
Recognizing the cultural emphasis on education in both
countries, Prime Minister Singh and President Obama emphasized
that education holds the key to the advancement of their
societies, and to a more prosperous and stable world.
A joint statement issued at the end of talks said
Singh and Obama also welcomed the strong collaboration between
India and the United States in the area of public health.
"They agreed to build on existing strong ties across
academia and scientific communities by advancing public health
and biomedical research collaborations between the United
States and India," the statement said.
-PTI
