Washington D.C., Feb 21:
India and the US are looking into exciting joint science and technology projects to further expand their relationship under the guidance of the top leadership of the two countries, according to a top American scientist.
Describing the US-India Partnership as a very important one for the Biden-Harris administration and also in Congress, Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation said there’s total bipartisan support for a strong partnership between two great democracies, the US and India.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off his visit to Washington DC, for the historic State Visit, with a trip to the National Science Foundation headquarters in Alexandria wherein he interacted with the scientific community and the young scientist minds.
“Now, in terms of the National Science Foundation (NSF), we have started to work with India in the science and technology front with threads of partnerships, as I call them,” Panchanathan told PTI in an interview.
NSF started first with the Department of Science and Technology. Working together, they have already had two rounds of funding.
“We had started with 35 projects that we funded with the six digital technology hubs. This was in 2022,” he said. They are now looking into various exciting joint proposals between US and Indian researchers, many of whom are going to be funded.
“The Ministry of Information Technology met with us. They signed an implementation agreement last summer, and we already have put out a call for proposals. We are in the final stages of deciding on the specific projects that will be funded,” he said, describing it as the second thread.
The third thread is establishing a partnership with the Department of Biotechnology.
“With the Department of Biotechnology, we are just about to announce the joint funding proposal opportunity for people to be able to work together in the areas of Bioeconomy and Biomanufacturing,” he said.
“This is in line with President Biden’s executive order not too long ago on Bioeconomy and Biomanufacturing. There’s a similar interest in India. Therefore, bringing the two sides together, and the research groups together to work on that is truly a great opportunity,” he said.
