The Minister for HRD,
Science & Technology and Ocean Development, Dr. Murli Manohar
Joshi and the visiting South African Minister of Arts, Culture,
Science & Technology today agreed to step up cooperation
between the two countries in a number of existing areas and
explore new areas for further cooperation. They agreed that
special attention would be paid to cooperation in the field
of bio-technology and school education. The two countries would
work together in the area of intellectual property rights. India
would also support South Africa in Golden Rice project.
The delegation accompanying the South African Minister is visiting
a number of science labs and institutions. They have had official
level discussions in the last few days.
In the area of education, the South African side sought India's
assistance particularly in school-level curriculum development
and publication of school books. They appreciated the content
and publishing quality of books brought out by the NCERT, especially
in view of their very low price, and showed interest in getting
books published in India.
