For some reason, a lot of text from this trip is being posted late and without notifications. As I am finding the events, I am sharing, but I am dating them accurately for chronological purposes. I am pretty sure a video of this might show up eventually. If I find it, I will add it here. This took place yesterday in New Delhi.
Remarks at Innovation Partnerships Event
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Indian Minister of Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh
Taj Palace Hotel
New Delhi, India
May 8, 2012
MINISTER DESHMUKH: Good
morning. Honorable Secretary of State and ladies and gentlemen, let me
exchange a warm welcome to Secretary Clinton, for I have the first
public engagement here in Delhi. I’m glad that this engagement is in the
areas of science and innovation, which is our common priority. In fact,
Madam Secretary, I was planning to visit U.S.A. today. (Laughter.) In
view of our common interest in a joint innovation program and your visit
to Delhi, I also rescheduled my plans and created this time space.
Together – (applause) – we have witnessed just now a wonderful display
of technology innovation. We have interacted with the powerful minds of
some innovators. I’m fully convinced that our bilateral cooperation in
the innovation space enjoys a bright future.
Strategic partnership between the two countries is – high technology
areas has been flagged of by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and
President Obama. This has opened a new chapter in our cooperation. The
visit of President Clinton in 2000 to India was a defining moment in our
science and technology cooperation agenda. Secretary Clinton, we recall
with fondness that the bi-national Indo-U.S. Science and Technology
Forum was founded during the visit of your husband as President. You
might like to convey that the forum he seeded has grown into a full
fruit-yielding tree. It is the forum which has catalyzed several of the
major joint initiatives we are witnessing today.
Over the last few years, science and technology engagements between
our two countries have been both substantial and exhaustive. I
acknowledge the contribution of our Ministry of External Affairs and the
U.S. State Department. Now, we have started to address together a grand
challenge through the tools of science. We are working in the areas of
health, biomedical science, food security, clean energy, water cycle,
and climate research. Our cooperation in knowledge-based industry sector
has assured in full spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among our
entities. In the past, we were focused on attracting people for
science. Now, our cooperation includes also science, but people of both
countries. Our cooperation agenda represents a new measure of mutual
trust and confidence.
Today, we wish to highlight the five-point program. But first of all,
I wish to recognize the ongoing outcome of our Stanford-India Biodesign
program supported by the Department of Biotechnology and the Indo-U.S.
Science and Technology Forum involving Stanford University, AIIMS,
IIT-Delhi. Under this program, about 25 high-quality minds have been
trained to identify major healthcare needs and develop cost effective
solutions. I’m convinced that this program will provide deployable
healthcare solution covering a wide socioeconomic spectrum. I believe
that we should try to replicate and establish several such innovative
programs that will not only provide affordable healthcare solutions to
our people, but also nurture the young minds to become job creators and
job seekers – and not job seekers.
Second program about interest today is the India Innovation Growth
Program supported by Department of Science and Technology and Lockheed
Martin Corporation. It is under the successful BPP model of
collaboration between our countries. Our 200 business engagements
agreements have already been entered involving both India and U.S.
enterprises. Products of some technologies have entered global
marketplace as well as impact analysis report prepared by FICCI reveals
that committed revenue generated by the innovators there in 2007 and ’10
amount to more than 70 U.S. million dollars.
The third major program of value showcased today is U.S.-India Endowment
Fund established by two governments in 2009. The creation of this fund
is another landmark in our belief to work together in the space of
technology commercialization. I’m certain that our joint effort through
this fund would foster commercialization of technology leading to
societal impact. The program funded by DST and U.S. State Department
have started to roll out project grants. We have witnessed today the
first batch of such investment in the broad priority areas covering
health issues and empowering citizens.
The fourth flagship is the Indo-U.S. Joint Clean Energy Research and
Development Center. This is a bilateral initiative of my Ministry of
Science and Technology with the U.S. Department of Energy. We have
committed 25 million U.S. dollar from such – from each side. The joint
center will support multi-institutional network project using consortia,
partnerships based on public-private model of funding. We are focused
on the areas of mutual interests covering solar energy, second
generation bio-fuel, and energy efficient buildings. We assure you,
Madam Secretary, that we are working to announce the exciting set of
first awards in this – in the near future.
Finally, among the focus of innovation initiative, our USAID
Millennium Alliance offering a new platform. Under this platform we
expect to leverage creativity of the both nations an ability of U.S. to
maximize quality Indian strength in optimizing resources. Together, we
could develop competitive, affordable innovation. USAID has already
contributed $7.7 million U.S. to this initiative. Today I’m happy to
announce other contribution of U.S. $5 million to this fund. (Applause.)
FICCI hopes to scale up this fund to 50 million U.S. dollar over the
next 12 months. This Millennium Alliance is a newer expression of our
mutual commitment to engage another gainful partnership. Undoubtedly,
our bilateral relationship today is a true partnership that uses a soft
progress of science and technology and innovation for the benefit of
people, the priority in both our countries. When the most powerful,
large economies of the world join and develop their innovation agenda,
it is bound to deliver values of global good. The world would want us to
work together.
Let me end with assurance of my government’s fullest commitment and
support to this bilateral endeavor and invite you, Madam Secretary, for
your valuable thoughts and impressions. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Minister, that was wonderful. Thank you so
much. Well, good morning, and let me begin by thanking Minister Deshmukh
for rearranging his schedule and being here today so that together we
could highlight the excellent work that is taking place in the area of
science and technology. And I thank you, Minister, for your warm welcome
and for your personal work to strengthen trade and partnership between
India and the United States. Our two great democracies share an enduring
commitment to innovation. For decades, scientists, engineers, and
social innovators from India and the United States have worked
side-by-side. The most famous example, perhaps, are the agricultural
improvements that led to the Green Revolution.
Today, I met entrepreneurs from an organization called Digital Green
who are carrying on that work using technology to share agricultural
best practices with farmers themselves. It is now possible, thanks to
communications technology, for farmers to be in their villages looking
at videos about agricultural techniques that they then can apply in
their own work. Innovations like this – the one from Digital Green – has
a ripple effect, generating economic growth, strengthening communities,
supporting rural livelihoods, and improving health outcomes. We want to
make it possible for more Indian and American entrepreneurs to
collaborate on new ventures, more scientists and scholars to share data
and build upon each other’s research, more students to live and learn
together at each of our universities. Ultimately, we hope to foster
generations of innovative thinkers and leaders who will continue to
improve the lives of the Indian and American people and contribute to
improving the lives of people everywhere.
We also want our governments to embrace the spirit of innovation to
improve our own work and strengthen our partnership. And let me give you
a few examples as to how we’re doing this: First, I am proud to
announce the winner of the first U.S.-India Science and Technology
Endowment Board grant. That is an initiative that I was privileged to
launch with Minister Krishna on my first visit in early 2009 as
Secretary here. The grant goes to a partnership between an American
startup, Promethean Power, and India-based Icelings. They have developed
a solar-powered system for refrigerated storage to keep fresh fruits
and vegetables from spoiling. And this is a huge advance for India
because lack of storage causes Indian farmers to lose approximately $10
billion in crops each year. This innovation promises farmers more income
while also improving consumer’s access to fresh produce throughout the
year. This partnership united different experiences and areas of
expertise, and now with a little help from the endowment fund,
Promethean Power and Icelings are helping solve a practical challenge
that will make a real difference to people’s lives and incomes.
Second, I want to highlight a new Millennium Alliance initiated last
year by USAID, our development agency, and the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry that is supported by the Government of
India. This public-private partnership will help fund development
solutions that deliver sustainable results for people and can be shared
across the world. And at our Higher Education Dialogue this June,
representatives of both governments, along with leaders from our higher
education institutions, will examine additional ways in which new
technologies can advance collaborations in education.
Third, one of the displays I had a chance to see earlier – and if the
press and the people in attendance haven’t seen the displays, I hope
that you will have a chance to do so – but one of them was the
Stanford-India Biodesign project, which has developed an infant
resuscitator, and the Lockheed Martin Innovation Growth program has
awarded a grant to 3nethra for an eye scanner that can detect treatable
diseases before they cause blindness. Both these cutting-age innovations
cost a fraction of other medical devices that address these same
problems, make lifesaving healthcare available to people who may not
otherwise be able to afford treatment.
And finally, I want to recognize a young woman with us today. Bharati
Chaturvedi is the leader of a group called Chintan India, which was one
of the first ever winners of our Secretary of State’s Innovation Award
for the Empowerment of Women and Girls. This award is a partnership
between the State Department and the Rockefeller Foundation to support
women’s equal participation in science, technology, entrepreneurship,
and in all aspects of society, because, of course, you would expect me
to believe, as I do, that women add a valuable perspective to problem
solving, and supporting women in science is one of our priority areas of
engagement between our countries. We will discuss this in more depth in
June when we host the 2nd U.S.-India Joint Commission Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation in Washington.
Now there are many more examples. The minister and I could literally
keep you here all day, but we will not do that, I promise. But we are
already developing, from the first commitment to cooperation back in
2000 when my husband paid a state visit, through the work that we’re
doing today in the Obama Administration – we know we can make an
enormous amount of progress. Some of the brightest minds of our two
societies are already working together. They are seeking solutions for
shared problems, and they are building the industries and creating the
jobs for tomorrow.
So we can and do – we can and must do more on the government level to
spur institutional partnerships. These public-private partnerships are
really an incredible way to bring the best of government and the best of
industries, academia, and non-for-profit organizations together. And I
hope that we will see even more sprouting forth. We look to you, the
innovators, the inventors, the researchers, the dreamers, in this
audience today for your leadership. The minister and I are happy to be
in receive mode. We want to hear from you about what you think will
work. We are working hard to set up the institutions that will then be
responsive, but it’s really up to each of you who has that idea and is
willing to work hard in order to see it come into reality.
So Minister, again, thank you. And thanks to all of the innovators;
thanks to all the public-private partners. We are really excited by the
progress we’re making together. Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
Thank you minister. Thank you so much. Thank you.
