Meeting of Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan with Japanese Minister of State for Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology (MEXT) Mr. Motoyuki FUJII.
Mr. Motoyuki Fujii, Japanese Minister of State for Science & Technology, Education, Culture, and Sports (MEXT) had a call-on meeting with Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences today in Delhi. Both the Ministers acknowledged that India and Japan enjoy a three decades old productive bilateral Science & Technology partnership which has resulted into significant knowledge generation and building a network of scientific excellence. It was noted that following the Summit meeting between the Prime Minister's of India and Japan, both sides have now agreed to launch the next phase of an exclusive Indian Beam line at the photon factory at KEK, Tsukubato initiate study on advanced materials for energy research. Furthermore, the INSPIRE program of Department of Science & Technology (DST) has been linked with the SAKURA program of Japan through which 60 bright high school students from India visited Japan last June. This program will be further augmented by enabling more science students to participate. It was agreed that both countries should establish closer ties amongst the young and future researchers and for that to happen India would host the 2016 Asian Science Camp in Bangalore in partnership with Japan Science & Technology Agency (JST) in which more than 225 research students from Asia will be participating and interacting with peers. Dr. Harsh Vardhan suggested that both India and Japan have a strong base in science, technology and innovation and together they should play a crucial role as leading knowledge economies to address societal challenges in areas such as energy, disaster management, manufacturing and health. Japanese Science Minister also echoed the need to direct the future Indo-Japan S&T collaboration by making it more relevant in solving the needs of the people of both the countries.
Both sides agreed to launch new model of collaboration through establishing joint laboratories through virtual networking of R&D institutions in areas of mutual interest such as digital technology, big data, marine biology, health& disease biology; promote academia-industry programs and importantly support mobility of young scientists and students. Dr. Harsh Vardhan extended an offer to Japan to be the partner country for the 2017 Technology Summit organized by DST along with CII. This event he said will help to connect knowledge industries and academia from both countries.
