Govt proposes Indo-French science and technology council

The government today proposed to set up a joint Indo-French science and technology council to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
This was conveyed during a meeting between Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh and French Ambassador Francois Richier here.
Richier expressed his government's desire to work in close collaboration with the Indian government in different areas including science and technology, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in a release.
Singh said India has all along shared a consistently healthy relationship with France regardless of the geo-political situation at any given time, and proposed a new innovative idea of having a joint Indo-French science and technology council, it said.

Singh accepted the French Ambassador's suggestion to set up a Pasteur institute in India which would be funded by the French government.
Referring to two joint satellites namely Megatropic and Saral, which are already in place, he said the joint scientific collaboration between the two countries can also be extended to the field of medical science particularly the research on metabolic diseases and diabetes.
As part of the new government's mission to use science and technology as a medium of social transformation, Singh said closer collaboration with progressive countries like France can also help to bring about greater harmony among diverse societies in order to be compatible with the requirements of a global world.

He said the Ministry of Science and Technology has opened up new areas of research and scientific work as a part of which young scientists from both the countries will get an opportunity to work with each others.