India and EU renew S&T agreement for 5 years

India and the European Union (EU) have agreed to renew an agreement on scientific cooperation for the next five years, 2020-2025

July 16, 2020

Under the previous agreement, there have been more than 500 exchange visits of researchers and students between Indian and the EU since 2015

Under the new agreement, India and the EU will further collaborate in research and innovation under the gamut of the India-EU Agreement on S&T

In the last five years, 73 joint research projects have been implemented, resulting in around 200 joint research publications & filing of few patents

The Government has put in a special focus on S&T R&D and innovation with a view on driving economic growth as well as societal development

India and the European Union (EU) have agreed to renew an agreement on scientific cooperation for the next five years, 2020-2025. The decision was taken at the 15th India-EU Summit, which was led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, while the EU delegation was headed by the European Council President, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Under the new agreement, India and the EU will further collaborate in research and innovation under the gamut of the India-EU Agreement on Science and Technology concluded in 2001, which expired in May 2020.

“Both parties are committed to launch the renewal procedure in time and acknowledge 20 years of robust cooperation on research and innovation,” a joint statement said. The renewal of the partnership will enhance research in different fields such as Water, Energy, Healthcare, Agritech and Bioeconomy, Integrated Cyber-Physical Systems, Information and Communication Technologies, Nanotechnology, and clean technologies, etc. The move will also strengthen the institutional linkages in research, exchange of researchers, students, startups and attract co-investment of resources for co-generation of knowledge.

Recently, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Health and Family Welfare and Earth Sciences had chaired a meeting to review India-EU S&T agreement with all Indian stakeholders – Department of Science & Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) & CSIR. The review meeting, which suggested the renewal of the agreement on S&T co-operation between the countries, recalled that in the last five years, 73 joint research projects have been implemented, resulting in around 200 joint research publications & filing of few patents. 

There have been over 500 exchange visits of researchers and students since 2015. The period has also seen joint activities in human capacity and technology development, technology deployment in Water, Health, Material (including Nanosciences), and Bioeconomy. The Government of India has put in a special focus on S&T R&D and innovation with a view on driving the nation’s economic growth as well as broader societal development. In line with this, the Budget 2020-21 announced a National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA) with a budget outlay of over US$1.1 billion. 

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