Mrs. Narinder Chauhan, Ambassador of India to Serbia participated in the 2nd Session of India-Serbia Joint Committee on Science & Technology that was held in Belgrade on 2-3 October 2017. The Joint Committee was co-chaired by Dr. Jagdish Chander, Scientist-G/Adviser, International Cooperation, Department of Science & Technology of India and Prof. Dr. Viktor Nedovic, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Education, S&T Development of the Republic of Serbia.
Ambassador remarked that India-Serbia relations were warm and friendly with history of collaboration in biotechnology & agriculture science and expressed hope that the joint session will further deepen bilateral technological collaboration.
Both sides recognized the overall developments in areas of science, technology & innovations and agreed that complementary strengths make the two sides obvious partners. The two sides expressed the desire that the new Programme of Cooperation (POC), which was signed during the meeting with increased fields of cooperation and based on a larger understanding of each other’s scientific and technological capabilities, would give a significant boost in initiating and further nurturing bilateral cooperation. The two sides agreed to hold two workshops – in the scientific domains of (a) biotechnology & human health and (b) ICT to be held in India and Serbia, respectively. Both sides also agreed to announce joint calls in the second half of 2018 after the workshops in accordance with priority fields as incorporated in the POC i.e. (i) New materials and Nanotechnology, (ii) Energy and Energy efficiency, (iii) Information and Communication Technologies, (iv) Human health, (v) Biotechnology including food technology and food security.
The two sides agreed to hold the next session of the Joint Committee in 2019 with a provision to hold a mid-term meeting to exchange information on latest achievements on S&T policies and to review the status of bilateral cooperation.
Science & Technology is one of the growing sectors of cooperation between India and Serbia and there is close cooperation in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector since the days of former Yugoslavia. Implementation of the bilateral S&T agreement would lead to a much higher level of cooperation between the two countries.