Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist October 2019

SPECIAL REPORT interaction between the Russian and Indian institutions and research centres. The activities by the Russia- India Network of Universities and the opportunities provided by the Indian programme “Global Initiative for Academic Networks” (GIAN) do not lead to a significant increase in researchers’ interaction. Bringing scholars together and providing conditions for their productive work is the required minimum for the breakthrough in science and technology cooperation. Hence, there should be more programmes and schemes facilitating academic exchanges which will subsequently require more investments. S&T is a complex sphere that, in case of successful collaboration, can bind diﬀ erent sectors of economies and create people-to-people connections. That is the reason why not a single component of science and technology cooperation – funding opportunities, academic and scientific exchanges, seminars and symposiums, implementation of inventions – may be neglected. Prospects What lies ahead for India-Russia scientiﬁ c and technological partnership? What ﬁ elds could spark interest for joint work? The joint statement issued after the summit in Vladivostok mentions the two sides’ commitment “to intensify development of high-tech products in such spheres, as telecommunications, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnologies, pharmacy and others.” The MoU between the Indian DST and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development should kickstart the bilateral cooperation in innovations as well. In accordance with the trends of contemporary time and national interests of both Russia and India, there might be collaboration in such areas as electronic systems design and manufacturing, supercomputing, software development, network security, Internet of Things, ﬁ ntech, etc. Russian and Indian specialists undoubtedly have much to learn from one another. However, as the cutting-edge technologies have been developing at incredible speed, the two sides are not fully aware of each other’s capabilities. This underlines the importance of knowledge dissemination which should be a priority task for both governmental bodies and private organizations. A good idea for this purpose is to organize special forums of entrepreneurs, industries representatives and scientists which would provide opportunity for exchanging ideas, best practices and even pilot projects. An example of such engagement is Indo-Russian Start-Ups Summit held by the Confederation of Indian Industries and Skolkovo Foundation in December 2018 in Moscow where the avenues for cooperation in high-tech innovations were discussed. New levels of interaction between the two countries could be achieved by means of partnerships between technological clusters and special incubation programmes for start-ups. Following on from multiple agreements signed on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, more interactions providing the framework for matching the industries of the two countries are expected on a short-term horizon. Unless the India-Russia economic relations are dominated by knowledge industries, there will hardly be any boost to bilateral cooperation in other sectors as well. The sphere that has gained traction in the run-up to the leaders’ summit is civil space cooperation. According to the bilateral agreement, Russia will train Indian cosmonauts for the human space mission Gaganyaan slated to be launched before August 15, 2022. The technical cooperation between Russian and Indian space agencies and industries should be facilitated with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) establishing a liaison unit in Moscow. The two sides have been discussing the setting up of ground stations for their navigation satellite systems – Indian NavIC and Russian GLONASS – in their respective territories. This should enhance the accuracy of their satellite navigation signals. Another topic for further talks is Russia’s oﬀ er of its semi-cryogenic rocket engine technology along with critical components for India’s human space capsule. Scientiﬁ c cooperation could also extend to vital geographies, for instance the Arctic region where Russia and India have already expressed interest to conduct joint scientiﬁ c research. As the bilateral energy cooperation in the region is gaining momentum, it is time both sides embraced scientiﬁ c and technological domain. There is a wide scope for joint research in the Arctic ranging from issues of climate change, melting ice and biodiversity to developing technical solutions for oil exploration and extraction. Since Moscow and New Delhi are time-tested partners who have nothing to vie for, there are no limits for cooperation in science and technology. If the political will and incentives are in harmony with businesses’ and scientists’ zeal, the relationship could benefit from the favorable combination of Indian and Russian specialists’ talents and skills. Hopefully, the latest positive dynamics in the India- Russia cooperation will give impetus to creating solid connections on scientiﬁ c and technological track. * Author is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences. Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 10 • October 2019, Noida • 29

Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist October 2019 | Page 29