On April 11-13, New Delhi hosted the Indo-Russian Education Summit, which became the largest event of its kind in the history of bilateral relations. About 60 Russian universities arrived in the Indian capital from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Siberia, Crimea, the Urals and other regions.
The forum was organized by the Russian State Agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ‘Rossotrudnichestvo’ that specializes in humanitarian projects abroad as well as the Russian House in New Delhi and the Russian Embassy in India.
The event brought together rectors of Indian and Russian universities, diplomats, politicians, scientists, and businessmen to explore new opportunities for cooperation in education, science and innovative technologies as well as professional training.
At the plenary session on April 11, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Pavel Shevtsov noted that “the Summit provides leading Indian and Russian universities with an unprecedented platform to engage in transformative dialogue and exchange.”
The programme of the forum included three panel discussions – “Russia – India – BRICS: Role of Higher Education in the Development of Comprehensive Cooperation”, “Career Opportunities for Indian Graduates of Russian Universities and Business as a Customer for the Training of Indian Personnel in Russia”, “Cooperation between Russia and India in the Field of Medical Education” – and a round table themed “Technical Universities”.
On April 12, as part of the Summit, a fair of Russian universities opened at the capital’s Le Méridien Hotel. The exhibition stands were crowded with people – Indian schoolchildren and students occupied the entire space of the hotel’s huge assembly hall. The counters of Russian universities were attended by a huge number of journalists and representatives of Indian educational institutions at The exhibition in New Delhi was aimed at introducing Indian youth to all the opportunities for obtaining higher education in Russia as they have great interest in Russia’s technical achievements, particularly, in space exploration, aviation and military technology, medicine.
On the sidelines of the event, official and informal meetings of representatives of the Russian and Indian educational communities took place. Pavel Shevtsov and Russian Deputy Education Minister Denis Gribov visited the Sancta Maria International School in Faridabad. In New Delhi, they met with Secretary of the Ministry of Education of India Sanjay Kumar. A delegation from Moscow led by Russian Deputy Health Tatyana Semenova called on the leadership of the Indian National Medical Commission (NMC).
During the three-day educational forum, the Higher School of Economics and the University of Delhi entered into an agreement on strategic cooperation and joint actions. As part of it, a large research hub will start operating at the partner university from India. About a dozen similar agreements were concluded as well.