India and the United States (US) have similar societies and shared values, said Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday while stressing that education and skill development are important pillars of Indo-US relations.
Pradhan was addressing the India Ideas Summit organised by the US-India Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce, International Affairs, South Asia. The theme of the event was “Maximising the Next 75 years of US–India Prosperity”.
Pradhan called for greater academic collaboration between higher education institutions in both the countries for offering twinning, joint degrees and dual degree programmes, and also strengthening collaboration in the areas of research and skill development.
“India and the US have similar societies and shared values. Education and skill development are important pillars of Indo-US relations,” said Pradhan, who also holds the portfolio of skill development and entrepreneurship.
Speaking about the “internationalisation of education” as envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Pradhan called upon American institutions and companies to partner with India in the rapidly-transforming education and skilling landscape.
“A growing digital economy, aspirational population, a knowledge-based society and policy reforms are creating unprecedented opportunities in India,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“A growing digital economy, aspirational population, a knowledge-based society and policy reforms are creating unprecedented opportunities in India,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The minister added that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is taking great efforts in skilling, re-skilling and upskilling its youth.
“India has a large young and educated population who are an asset to any industry globally if they are provided focussed training and capacity building as per industry requirement,” he said. “India is positioned favourably mainly due to its demographic advantage and various skilling initiatives.”