New Delhi, Aug 20 The trinity of health, agriculture and water has for many years been the bedrocks of close mutual collaboration between India and the Netherlands, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Friday.
"The Indo-Dutch collaboration could be evolved into a model for others to follow. Health and agriculture are the priority areas of the government," said Singh, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences.
Singh's remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from the Netherlands led by Ambassador Marten van den Berg, said a release from the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Marten van den Berg had called on Singh to discuss and review bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of science & technology and innovation.
"India is poised to play a leading role in the comity of nations. India is emerging as a huge investment destination," Singh said, as he called upon the private sector to seize the opportunity for furthering ties in all walks of life as both the countries enjoy deep historic and cultural ties.
Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, K. Vijay Raghavan; Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Ashutosh Sharma; and Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Renu Swarup, also attended the meeting, among others.
Singh welcomed the Dutch proposal to work together in the area of Green Hydrogen and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address on August 15 had announced the 'National Hydrogen Mission' to make India a global hub for green hydrogen production and export.
Similarly, Smart Energy Grids, Functional Materials, Big Data and IOT have been supported for joint research and development, he added.
Referring to Ambassador Berg's proposal for collaboration in Ocean Resources, the minister informed that India had recently announced a 'Deep Ocean Mission' with a view to explore the deep ocean for resources and develop deep-sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources.
Ambassador Berg in his address flagged the future collaborations in solar energy, gas-based installations, cyber security, data science, urban water system and emerging areas, which will create jobs for people in India.
He said that institutional frameworks for cooperation are already in place, and now there is a need to work effectively on the ground.
Berg also highlighted climate change as a key area of concern for the entire world and said that both India and the Netherlands can work in areas like carbon capture through the public-private partnership mode.
He also underlined the need to address societal challenges through science and technology, the release said.
Collaboration in sports science was another area that was flagged by both the sides.
Berg also mentioned that Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne played an important role in the renaissance of India's women's hockey team, the release added.
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