Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS) British Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts arrived here Thursday on a week-long visit to India, during which he will attend various education seminars and also co-chair the India-UK Education Forum.

“Our prime ministers have put education at the top of our shared agenda. Collaboration in education between the UK and India goes back over many years, but is also constantly changing and innovating,” said Willetts in a press statement issued by the British high commission.

It is the second visit of the British minister this year - he had come to India earlier in July.

Besides giving the key-note speech at the inauguration of FICCI Higher Education Summit, Willets is scheduled to meet senior Indian ministers and co-chair the UK-India Education Forum.

He will also meet members of the Planning Commission and visit the Industrial Training Institute in Gurgaon.

“In the last year, UK bodies have committed over 30 million pounds (Rs.2 billion) to jointly-funded research programmes. The challenges that our two societies face are increasingly global in nature and solutions will increasingly be found by working together,” Willett said.

After Delhi, he will go to Bangalore to visit the Indian Space Research Organisation, followed by a trip to Pune to look at the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research, National Chemical Laboratory and the Venture Centre.