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Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal, underlined the importance of partnership between India and the USA in the educational arena during his address at the US-India Business Council.

Sibal said that the two countries can find solutions for tomorrow, and pointed out how in today’s interconnected world, problems do not remain confined to the region in which they emerge. He also said that solutions to global problems can only be arrived at by studying them in the regions they exist.

The minister said that India’s demographic advantage must be harnessed in a manner to serve the world. He also spoke about the need to scale up college and university infrastructure in India to meet the goals of a GER of 30 per cent in 10 years.

He also spoke about how differently the cities of the future world will need to be constructed in the context of global warming and also how the growing scarcity of water, for human consumption and also for agriculture would need solutions. An enhanced educational partnership between the two countries can help find solutions for these challenges, he added.

At the occasion, US Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns, stated that education is one of the pillars of the strategic partnership between India and the US. He said that they have high expectations of this relationship in the years ahead.

During the programme, a joint initiative of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Rutgers University, ‘India Centre for Sustainable Growth and Talent Development’ was also inaugurated. This programme will see collaboration between the two institutions in the areas of Women’s Leadership and Vocational Education Programmes.