INDO-AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIFIC TIES TO
LOOK UP
The scientific and
technological cooperation between India and Australia to look
up, after a gap of five years. This follows talks between the
visiting Australian Minister for Education, Science and Training,
Dr. Brendan Nelson and the Minister for Human Resource Development
and Science & Technology, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi alongwith
their delegations, over the week-end. Later, the two sides signed
a Memorandum of Understanding for strengthening collaboration
in frontier areas of science. Some of the areas identified include
Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Advanced Materials and Agriculture,
in which India has rich potential and expertise. Officials from
the two sides will meet soon to identify projects for joint collaboration.
Agreeing that resumption
of Indo-Australian scientific collaboration is essential not only
for mutual benefit but also for the humanity as a whole, the two
leaders directed their officials to chalk out the course of action.
They felt that the MoU just signed would go a long way in facilitating
this. The Australian Minister who visited some of the Indian educational
and research institutions said he was very impressed by them and
termed them as of high-quality organisations.
Under the MoU the
two sides will establish a Joint Committee, which will review
and identify programmes of cooperation, select priority areas
with high probability for collaborative projects, monitor the
progress of ongoing projects as well as decide on funding new
projects. The MoU lays more emphasis on funding and both sides
will put in place a Funding Mechanism, to support joint developmental,
scientific and strategic research projects. Another significant
aspect of the MoU is, that it also takes care of intellectual
property rights. If necessary they may even conclude appropriate
protocols for the protection of IPRs.
