Govt plans to establish offshore Johns Hopkins University Campus in India

New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS): The government on Sunday held discussions with a high-level delegation from the US on establishing an offshore Johns Hopkins University Campus in India.

Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, met the 12-member delegation led by Baltimore (Maryland)-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU) President Ronald J. Daniels.

The delegation also included officials from Gupta Klinsky India Institute (GKII), an internal unit of JHU with a mandate to bring the JHU community with Indian partners through research, education, policy and practice.

Union Minister Pradhan highlighted the transformative opportunities enabled by the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), which has paved the way for academic collaborations and advancing India’s education sector. He also hailed the university’s commitment towards building robust partnerships with Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), contributing to the global exchange of knowledge, particularly in the areas of dual and joint degree programmes, two-way mobility of students and faculty, and research partnerships in emerging fields like data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and futuristic technologies.

The minister also emphasised the potential for these collaborations to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among students in both nations.

The discussion centred on strengthening academic and research collaborations between JHU and premier Indian HEIs.

"The delegation’s visit highlights the growing significance of India-US educational cooperation," said the Ministry of Education.

As part of their multi-city tour, the delegation will visit various Indian university campuses and engage with key government officials, academic leaders, and embassy representatives to strengthen JHU’s operations in India and advance the internationalisation efforts.

Prominent Indian-origin faculty from JHU, such as Mathuram Santosham, Professor of Paediatrics and International Health, and Chirag Parikh, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Nephrology, also participated in the discussion. The delegation also included GKII officials and members of its advisory board, including Raj and Kamla Gupta, Deepak Raj, Kunal Pal, and Neetisha Besra, according to the ministry.