India has called upon the countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) nations to join hands for enhanced collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation. Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressed the SCO meeting through virtual mode and urged the member countries to jointly address the emerging challenges of the Eurasian region.
Addressing the seventh session of the heads of ministries and agencies of science and technology of the SCO member states, as representative minister of the host country India, the minister said, India is ready to work closely with other member countries of the organisation to jointly address the emerging challenges of the Eurasian region.
The minister appreciated the participation and the overwhelming efforts of each of the member states to enhance the cooperation among SCO member states.
It is worth-mentioning that the SCO has emerged as a vital cog in transforming the multilateral cooperation in the Eurasian region in the past two decades of its existence, and India attaches special importance to SCO in harnessing this crucial cooperation in the region.
Dr. Singh mentioned that SCO countries are exposed to identical challenges such as ensuring food, challenges emerging due to climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, affordable healthcare, environmental issues and energy access for its people. In order to resolve these challenges, it is imperative for us to join hands to innovate affordable scientific solutions.
He said that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the global scenario of the economy. Science and technology has played a greater role in global economic recovery. The SCO scientific community needs to cooperate in the field of technology-based solutions for social and economic challenges.
The minister also added that the Government of India has focused on innovative interventions for affordable healthcare and by 2047, India aims to be one of the world's top markets in medical devices.
Dr. Singh said, India is moving along the mantra -‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, and Jai Anusandhan,’ which essentially believes in coordination of various sectors to make India a global centre of research and innovation.
He informed that during the last seven years, India’s expenditure of R&D has almost doubled. In this year's budget, the government has allocated about rupees 16,360 crore for the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The Government of India has recently embarked upon the creation of a National Research Foundation (NRF) with substantial funding to promote translational and interdisciplinary research in addition to basic R&D activities, which is sure to bring a lot of good to the scientific research and development of the country.
Owing to the continuous efforts being made by the government towards research and development, India has now climbed to 3rd position in scientific publication as per NSF database. During the last 8 years, the number of registered start-ups has grown from a mere 400 to an astounding 97,000. India has also reached 3rd position in terms of number of PhDs.
It is also worth-mentioning that the Government of India, in the recent past, has launched several flagship initiatives such as National Mission on Cyber Physical Systems, Quantum Computing, National Mission on Supercomputing, Deep Ocean Mission etc to build scientific leadership in the emerging areas of science.
In the meantime, with the launching of the National Hydrogen Energy Mission and several such initiatives, India is progressing ahead to meet its commitment at COP 26 of achieving net zero emissions by 2070 and fulfilling 50 per cent of energy requirements by utilising renewable energy by 2030.
Dr. Singh also underlined the importance of the implementation of S&T mechanism of Science and Technology for sustainable development and improving the quality of life of the people and for reinforced efforts for its effective implementation.
