SWEDEN FOR STRENGTHENING
SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION WITH INDIA
Sweden has expressed
keen interest in expanding and strengthening scientific and technological
cooperation with India. This was conveyed to the Minister for
Human Resource Development and Science and Technology Dr. Murli
Manohar Joshi, by the leader of a ten-member Swedish delegation
from the Royal Institute of Technology Prof. Anders Flodstrom,
at a meeting here yesterday. The delegation is in India visiting
scientific, technical and educational institutions in the country
in a bid to explore the possibilities of widening cooperation.
Though there is no
formal bilateral agreement on science and technology with Sweden,
collaboration on a limited scale has been taking place under the
umbrella of Indo-Swedish Joint Commission for economic, industrial,
technical and scientific cooperation. Dr. Joshi emphasised the
need for the two countries to conclude an S&T agreement, under
which the level of collaboration could be enhanced. While touching
upon interaction in biotechnology, Dr. Joshi made it clear that
India stands for bio-ethics. The Swedish delegation was also keen
on knowing our distance education and open school programmes as
well as developing contacts with social science institutions in
the country.
The major areas identified
for cooperation include biotechnology, food-technology, environmental
technology, energy technology, advanced materials and metallurgy.
