Washington, Nov 22: India has been elected vice chairman of the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy (IPHE), which aims at promoting energy security, collaborative research, code harmonisation and globally focused national hydrogen road maps. Welcoming the move, India's representative in the partnership, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission K C Pant told reporters that "India's inclusion in the partnership is a recognition of the changed perception of India in terms of its capacity for research in the areas of advanced science and technology".
Chaired by the US, the partnership comprises 14 countries, mostly industrialised countries and the EU.
India, said Pant, has signed the IPHE partnership agreement to leverage faster and implement an agreed agenda of international research, development and commercialisation of new technologies.
IPHE is a significant initiative of the US government to bring together major energy-consuming countries and those that have the necessary infrastructure and R&D strengths to set up a major global partnership to move quickly towards a hydrogen-based economy.
Speaking at the Indian Embassy, Pant observed that there has been a sea change in Indo-US relationship since he came here as defence minister 14 years ago.
"There is not only an improvement in the bilateral relations but there is an element of warmth which has come into it". Bureau Report