Mr Alon Ushpiz, the ambassador of Israel to India met Ms Smriti Irani, minister of human resource development, to discuss strengthening of educational relations between India and Israel.

Recalling close ties in different fields like science and technology, education, culture and economics between India and Israel, Ms Irani stressed that education is an engine of growth and collaborative knowledge creation is very important for building a better world.

During the meeting, both countries pledged to take up joint research programs amounting to $5 million per year. It was highlighted that in the first round, 66 joint research proposals were received. The evaluation of the proposals will be done by experts from both the sides and will be completed by June, 2014.

Ambassador Ushpiz mentioned that Israel offers 200 post doctoral fellowships, of which about 80 percent are availed by Indian students. The minister, Ms Irani was happy to learn that Israel is also launching another scholarship program, offering 40 scholarships for graduate and 30 for postgraduate programs in Israel.

The ambassador also said that Nobel Laureate Ms Ada E Yonath, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Dr V Ramakrishnan, will be visiting India during March, 2015. The minister told the officials that apart from academic conferences and seminars, they should facilitate meetings with young students, who could be inspired and motivated towards taking up research in basic sciences after an interaction with Ms Ada E Yonath.