Switzerland Sees India as Emerging Global R&D Power, Earmarks CHF 45 Million for Science and Technology Partnership
Swiss President Guy Parmelin on Tuesday described India as a rapidly emerging global research and development power and reaffirmed Switzerland’s commitment to a long-term partnership with India in...
Swiss President Guy Parmelin on Tuesday described India as a rapidly emerging global research and development power and reaffirmed Switzerland’s commitment to a long-term partnership with India in education, research and innovation.
During a bilateral meeting with Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Jitendra Singh, in New Delhi, Parmelin said Switzerland had earmarked an additional CHF 45 million for the science and technology partnership and expressed the expectation of a corresponding commitment from India to further strengthen the joint research framework.
Dr. Jitendra Singh and Parmelin discussed ways to deepen the longstanding India-Switzerland partnership in science, technology, research and innovation, with a focus on moving towards a more structured, strategic and long-term framework for cooperation. Recalling the Science and Technology Agreement signed in 2003, the Swiss President said the partnership had grown steadily over the years and expressed confidence that the two countries could achieve much more through closer collaboration, according to a press release from the Ministry of Science & Technology.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said India was increasingly adopting an interdisciplinary, mission-mode approach to science and technology, with national programmes bringing together expertise across disciplines and ministries. He described Artificial Intelligence as an enabling tool with applications across diverse fields rather than a standalone discipline. Highlighting India’s expanding scientific priorities, he cited advances in biotechnology, vaccine development, genome sequencing, quantum technology, space and deep-ocean research, along with emerging opportunities in the blue economy and bio-economy.
The Union Minister welcomed progress towards the Indo-Swiss Research Framework (ISRF) and the Indo-Swiss Joint Scientific Board, saying these initiatives would provide a stronger foundation for strategic, long-term cooperation. He also welcomed the Letter of Intent between the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), along with the Implementation Agreement between the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and DST, to strengthen institutional engagement and research collaboration, it said.
Both sides discussed opportunities to deepen cooperation in research, innovation and emerging technologies. President Parmelin emphasised the importance of ensuring that Artificial Intelligence benefits countries across the Global South and invited India to participate in the forthcoming Geneva AI Summit, underscoring the shared interest in collaboration on emerging technologies and issues of global significance.
India and Switzerland have built more than two decades of scientific cooperation since signing the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Science and Technology in 2003. The partnership has evolved through the Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme and expanded into areas such as quantum technology, Artificial Intelligence, clean technology, renewable energy, ocean research and the blue economy, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, biomedical research, pandemic preparedness and space technologies.
The Indo-Swiss Research Framework seeks to take this cooperation beyond individual research projects towards a more strategic, system-level partnership, with greater researcher mobility, knowledge exchange and sustained institutional collaboration.
The Swiss delegation included Dr. Martina Hirayama, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI); H.E. Maya Tissafi, Ambassador of Switzerland to India and Bhutan; Catherine von Wyl, Scientific Advisor, SERI; Prof. Dr. Torsten Schwede, President of the Swiss National Science Foundation; Thomas Gfeller, Chief Executive Officer of Foundation Switzerland Innovation; Prof. Dr. Regula Jöhl, President of Zurich University of Applied Sciences; Joël François Mesot, President of ETH Zurich; and Leena Arora Kukreja, Science and Technology Counsellor at the Embassy of Switzerland.
Dr. Jitendra Singh was accompanied by Prof. Umesh V. Waghmare, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology; Dr. Rajesh Sudhir Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology; Dr. Praveenkumar Somasundaram, Head, International Cooperation Division, DST; and Dr. Ramkrishna Sahoo, Nodal Officer for the Swiss Desk, DST.
-PIB inputs
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