UK chief scientific adviser Sir Mark Walport to visit India to deepen S&T ties

LONDON: The UK's chief scientific adviser, Sir Mark Walport will visit India to deepen collaboration around science and innovation - one of the central pillars of the UK-India bilateral relationship.

During his visit to New Delhi, Mark will focus on discussions around UK-India Science and Innovation policy, celebrate bilateral research investments crossing the 200 million pounds barrier and deepen the science and innovation relationship between both the countries.

"Our science and research collaborations are helping India's transformational agenda and to build our partnerships tackling global challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, food security, and much more.

"My visit underlines the strength of our research investments that are now hitting the 200m pounds mark and working towards world-class collaborations through the Newton-Bhabha fund," he said, ahead of his two-day visit from tomorrow.

He will meet Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary Professor of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Together they will co-chair the UK-India Science and Innovation Policy Dialogue where senior officials from the Indian Government and UK science and innovation policy leads will participate.

Mark will also be the Guest of Honour at the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Research Councils UK reception showcasing the impact of the UK's partnership with India in science and innovation as well as marking DBT's 30th anniversary.

He will also attend a UK-India smart cities roundtable on November 20.

Developing smart cities is a key priority for India's transformational agenda and the UK is supporting three cities in India (Amaravati, Indore and Pune) to develop their smart city plans, official said.

The roundtable will discuss the challenge areas like energy, mobility, and how UK-India Research and Innovation can deliver solutions.