Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 6 July, Minister of Innovation Development Ibrohim Abdurakhmonov received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Uzbekistan Santosh Jha on the occasion of the completion of his mission in Uzbekistan. During the reception, the ministry’s work with Indian partners over the past period was discussed.

In particular, within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of India, the “Program of cooperation in science, technology and innovation for 2019-2022” between the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Science and Technology of India was approved.

According to this program, in November last year, a competition of Uzbek-Indian scientific and technical projects was announced, and 20 additional scientific and technical projects are implemented annually. In addition, it was agreed that 22 young scientists would undergo short-term internships at the leading higher educational institutions of India.

Partnerships have been established with iCreate (International Center for entrepreneurship and technology) and DevX, the two largest startup accelerators in India. The main goal of cooperation is the exchange of best practices in the field of innovation and the development of a startup ecosystem, the improvement of human capital. To date, the leading experts of these accelerators have held a number of lectures, seminars, and conferences for startups in our country, with the participation of which the Ideaton contest was organized.

To date, Routern.com CEO Chandranata Sharma and Nath Bio-Genes CEO Venkatesh Kulkar have been appointed innovation ambassadors in India. Close cooperation has been established with them in relevant areas.

Despite the fact that the work to be carried out in accordance with the roadmap was temporarily delayed in the context of the global coronavirus pandemic, the meeting also discussed the possibility of discussing the prospects for joint research by Indian pharmaceutical companies on the development of antiviral drugs.

At the same time, the need to further strengthen the Uzbek-Indian relations in the field of innovation and science was noted. The Minister of Innovation Development Ibrohim Abdurahmonov wished success in the future work of Santos Jha, who was appointed Ambassador of India to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.