USAID Science and Technology Adviser visits India

New Delhi, March 16, 2012

Dr. Alex Dehgan, Science and Technology Adviser to Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is in Delhi this week.  Dr. Dehgan is meeting with Government of India and private sector partners to discuss issues of science, technology, and innovation and to explore opportunities for cooperation to address some of the world’s most pressing development challenges.

As part of this strategy, USAID is embarking on an entirely new relationship with the university community.  This initiative will unlock the ingenuity of universities and partner institutions to drive a new wave of multidisciplinary approaches to testing and creating international development solutions. Cooperation across universities will be particularly important to the success of this initiative, and partnerships between American and Indian universities can play a key role in its success. To find out more, please visit www.usaid.gov/universities.

 Speaking about his impressions of opportunities for deepening science and technology cooperation for international development between the United States and India, Dr. Dehgan said:  “I have been so impressed by the dynamism, commitment, and skill of Indian science and technology actors and their American partners.  Science and technology remains at the heart of the relationship between India and the United States, and provides the way to harness the ingenuity of American scientists and Indian scientists to cooperatively solve pressing global development issues."