Counselor of the Embassy of India in Russia: 'Over the last three-four years scientific and academic ties between India and Russia have been strengthening'

The counselor for science and technologies of the Embassy of India in the RF, Ms. Rama Swami Bansal visited KFU.

As is well-known, lately Russia and India have been actively strengthening partnership links weakened in the nineties. On December 11, 2014 the President Vladimir Putin made an official visit to India. A set of agreements in several areas was singed following the results of the visit, including contracts on oil supply, joint development of Arctic oil field, diamond mining and processing, and military cooperation.

There are grounds to believe that contacts between the two states in the sphere of science and education will strengthen in this connection; and the visit of the Embassy representative to Kazan is a kind of an incentive.

During her visit to Kazan University Ms. Bansal met with the Vice-Rector for International Relations, Mr. Linar Latypov, and visited laboratories of the Higher School of Information Technologies and Information Systems, Institute of Physics, and Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology.

We asked our guest about her opinion on scientific and academic cooperation between our two countries.

- Are you for the first time in Kazan?

- Yes, it’s my first visit to your city and your University. I came here to get acquainted with Innopolis University, but our Ambassador and I wanted to learn more about your University, as well.

- Have you already had a discussion with the Vice-Rector for International Relations? Have you been shown a presentation of KFU? Do you think there are certain prerequisites for cooperation in science between KFU and Indian Universities?

- We definitely have areas of common interest. I can see that you have very strong research Institutes of Physics, Mathematics, Information Technologies, and Medicine. All the aforesaid are interesting for us!

- At the end of the XX century scientific and academic ties between India and Russia weakened. What do you think of them now?

- I don’t agree with this statement. Our links were not as weak at that period. Otherwise we wouldn’t have had such a strong partnership now. What is more, over the last three-four years they have strengthened. During the last visit of the President Putin to India an agreement of cooperation between our countries in the spheres of medical education and science was signed at the annual summit.

- Who will implement it? Which Russian Universities are most actively cooperating with Indian universities?

- Many of them. As a whole, our cooperation is at a very high level today. We conduct joint researches with universities from Moscow, Tomsk, Saint-Petersburg, Novosibirsk.

- Kazan University is likely to be included in this list now, isn’t it?

- I’m sure of that!

- Thank you for an interview. Good luck!