The UK and India today (Wednesday 26th April) signed a landmark agreement to collaborate on science and innovation, following a meeting between UK Science Minister George Freeman and Indian Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh.

The memorandum of understanding on research between the two countries was signed at the in Parliament this afternoon, enabling quicker, deeper collaboration on science between the two science powerhouses that will drive economic growth, create skilled jobs and improve lives in the UK, India, and worldwide.

The agreement will remove red tape standing in the way of major collaborations, while unleashing a raft of new joint research schemes aiming to deliver progress on some of the biggest issues facing the world, from climate change and pandemic preparedness through to AI and machine learning.

Programmes include the establishment of a new UK-India Net Zero Innovation Virtual Centre focusing on industrial decarbonisation and launching the first ever UK-India scientific deep sea voyage.

The UK is determined to work with partners across the globe in delivering world class science and research. Other recent announcements include the launch of the International Science Partnerships Fund in Japan, an MoU on science with Switzerland, and agreements on closer collaboration on agri-tech with South Africa.

Alongside this momentous agreement, today’s announcement also sees India named as a partner for the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund, carrying forward the UK-India science partnership built through the Newton-Bhabha fund. This renewed partnership will kick off with two new joint UK-India research programmes:

• £5 million UK funding, matched by India, for research into Farmed Animal Diseases and Health
• £3.3 million UK funding, matched by India, towards a technology and skills partnership programme that will enable UK and Indian researcher to develop skills, technologies and knowledge in areas such as AI, machine learning and bio-imaging

Other UK-India agreements to be made at the Science and Innovation Council include:

• The creation of UK-India Net Zero Innovation Virtual Centre, hosting the Hydrogen Valley and Industrial Decarbonisation Living Lab – to help decarbonise manufacturing and transport
• Several UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Indian Department for Science and Technology (DST) joint research calls, including programmes on sustainability and solid earth hazards
• An intention to launch a partnership for decarbonising India’s pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industries
• A programme of UK-India university partnerships, including one between Aston University and CSIR Dehradun on sustainable biofuels.
• The Fourth annual meeting (and second in-person meeting) of the RS/INSA Yusuf Hamied programme, a scheme designed to promote relationships and knowledge exchanges between UK and Indian researchers

The collaborative activities carried out under the MoU will be supported by joint funding agreed by both sides, with finances for each programme determined between the UK and India on a case-by-case basis.

Further agreements between UK and Indian institutions in research and innovation include:

• Funding 10 new UK-India Fisheries Research Fellowships
• Further UK-India university partnerships including one between Imperial College and ICMR on pandemic and TB elimination modelling
• A study on using cutting edge UK tech to spot diseases in shrimp aquaculture
• A partnership on using data to detect harmful algal blooms affecting our oceans
• A partnership to predict, spot and intercept invasive alien species that devastate farmer’s crops across South India
• A portal on traded medicinal plants of India developed by Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) in Kew and TDU Bangalore
• A joint PhD programme by the University of Manchester and Indian Institute of Science
• Annual dialogue between the Science Museum Group in the UK and the National Council of Science Museums in India
• ‘Twin Cities’ UK-India Marine Litter Partnership between Aberystwyth, Wales and Puducherry, India A joint PhD programme by the University of Manchester and Indian Institute of Science