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India and USA have started to address grand challenges through science: Dr. Harsh Vardhan
Nov 18, 2014

According to Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Government of India and the US have started to address grand challenges through science. The Minister was speaking at the India-US technology Summit being organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the US Department of State.

The Minister observed that the two countries are already working together in the areas of health & biomedical sciences, food security, clean energy, integrated water management and weather forecasting.  New collaborative R&D programs on low cost diagnostics, next generation vaccines, brain research, cancer research, high energy physics, and emerging materials were on the anvil.

He highlighted the need to collaborate in the field of renewable energy to develop cost effective and efficient products that will have wider access and minimum carbon imprint. He highlighted the need to develop an innovative clean technology development and deployment Fund using a consortia approach and PPP model.

He stated that the Indian Government is expected to invest in renewable energy projects in a major way over the next 5 years alone and invited US companies to take advantage of this opportunity.

Dr. John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisor’s on Science and Technology stated that both countries continue to attach great importance to bilateral cooperation in the field of Science and Technology. He mentioned that in recent weeks, several bilateral dialogues in this field had met to explore newer areas of cooperation in the technology space. These included dialogues such as the Indo-US Joint Commission on Science and Technology, India-US Higher Education Dialogue and the High Technology Cooperation Group among others.

He was of the view that the two countries could gain by cooperating in areas such as the development of smart cities and clean energy. He pointed out that the US Trade Development Authority was engaged in a project to enhance connectivity in the Asian region with a view to promote infrastructure development and promote intra-regional trade.

In his address, Prof. K Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology highlighted the need for increasing the speed at which R&D was converted into applications. He highlighted the change in attitude in India and mentioned that there is a need to work quickly to take advantage of the demographic dividend in India.

In his address, Mr, Richard Stengel, Under Secretary for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, US Department of State spoke of the need for maintaining an open internet as well as for net neutrality. He pointed out that of the next billion people to go online, 300 million were expected to be from India. With so many people going online, there is a need to maintain a free flow of information on the net.

Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, Charge d’affaires, a.i. Embassy of the United States of America highlighted that the size of the US delegation participating at the Summit was proof of the vibrancy of the bilateral relationship in this field. She felt that it was a time for action in the US – India relationship.

Mr. Ajay Shriram, President, CII stated that the US and India have natural synergies in terms of capability, innovation, technology, hardware and software which they must jointly leverage. He called on US companies to invest in India’s high technology sector.

Dr. Naushad Forbes, Vice President, CII and Chairman, India-US Technology Summit spoke about the need for both Indian industry as well as the Government to step up their investment in R&D. He felt that Indian industry’s R&D spend should increase from 0.3% of GDP at present to 1%. Of GDP Similarly, he was of the view that the government’s spend on R&D should go up from 0.5% of GDP at present to 1% of GDP. He observed that Indian industry’s spend on R&D was growing by 35% p.a. and felt that this trend needed to continue for some time. He also felt that there is a need to focus on design capabilities in India. Dr. Forbes also stressed on the need to shift the focus of public research in India from autonomous R&D labs to the higher education sector in line with the trend worldwide.

Ms. Diane Farrell, Acting President, US India Business Council that the programmes announced by the Government of India such as the development of smart cities, Digital India and Make in India offered many opportunities for US and Indian companies to work together.

Earlier in his Welcome Address, Mr. Venkatesh Valluri, Chairman, CII National Committee on Technology and Chairman and President, Ingersoll Rand India stated that there were three key areas that the two countries could work together. These included defense co-production, development of smart cities and joint R&D. He felt that there was a massive opportunity for both countries to work together for the overall upliftment of society.

In his concluding remarks, Dr. Arabinda Mitra, Adviser & Head, International (Bilateral Cooperation, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India stated that the Summit marked a watershed moment in US India relations.

Greater Noida

November 18, 2014

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