Modi-Trump pact boosts bi-lateral research, HE collaboration

India and the United States have committed to stepping up academic collaboration, enhancing study abroad opportunities, and exploring the possibility of American university campuses in India, according to an agreement reached during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the United States.

An agreement to promote an exchange of talent, research and ideas between the two countries was signed after high-level discussions between Modi and US President Donald Trump at the White House on 13 February, which some see as groundbreaking in its inclusion of co-operation on critical emergent and strategic technologies.

India invited American institutions to set up offshore campuses, taking advantage of ongoing reforms in its education sector. Modi emphasised India’s recent efforts to attract foreign institutions, particularly through the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).

Several Australian and British universities have committed to setting up or plan to set up in India in GIFT City and elsewhere in India.

Both nations also committed to enhancing joint and dual degree programmes.

India’s Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, hailed the agreement, emphasising that enhanced academic associations would boost India’s efforts towards globalisation and facilitate knowledge exchange between the two nations.

Simplified legal pathways

Both Modi and Trump pledged in their joint statement to simplify legal pathways for student and professional mobility, with “secure and well-organised frameworks for the movement of talent”.

This is a possible acknowledgement of the fact that existing complex visa regulations and immigration policies in both countries have the potential to hinder smooth operation of cross-border student mobility.

Currently, there are more than 300,000 Indian students studying in the US, contributing over US$8 billion annually to the American economy, according to the joint statement.

The 2023–24 academic year recorded a historic high of 331,602 Indian students in the US, representing a 23% increase from the previous year. This growth reinforces India's status as the largest source of international students in the US.

However, student visas issued to Indian nationals saw a dramatic decline in 2024, according to anecdotal evidence from education agents.

India is also concerned that strict US immigration policies could affect the large number of Indian students who stay on after completing degrees in the US and those who take up short-term so-called ‘H1-B’ visas to work in US tech companies. The future of these visas remains unclear.

Critical and emerging technologies

The two nations announced a new partnership enhancing scientific and technological association specifically between the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and India’s Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to prioritise joint research in critical areas, including semiconductors, connected vehicles, machine learning, next-generation telecommunications, intelligent transportation systems, and future bio-manufacturing.

India’s Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, described the partnership between the two research organisations as “pathbreaking” and said it will have far-reaching outcomes. “This will boost the collaboration between the two countries and foster India into a leading role in the global arena,” Singh said on the social media platform X.

Dr Nikhil Agarwal, managing director of the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D), said the collaboration emphasised India’s growing prominence in global research.

“Partnering with the NSF, renowned for its extensive experience in interdisciplinary research, will enhance India’s capabilities in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, clean energy, and biotechnology,” he told University World News.

“This synergy is expected to align India’s research initiatives with global technological advancements, promoting mutual growth,” he said.

According to Agarwal, the partnership’s core objectives include collaborative projects in critical technology sectors, establishing financial support systems for bilateral research, promoting the movement of researchers between nations to share expertise, and bridging the gap between research outputs and market applications.

“For India this means enhanced research funding, increased patent generation, and elevated global collaboration. Indian researchers will gain access to NSF-funded programmes, enriching their exposure to cutting-edge science. Conversely, the US will benefit from India’s expanding STEM talent pool, vital for sustaining innovation,” he said.

Agarwal added that his institution, IIT-D, was “poised to play a crucial role” in the collaboration.

“With its emphasis on deep-tech research, technology incubation, and start-up support, the institute is well-positioned to drive innovation.

“Notably, IIT-D’s FITT has a history of successful industry partnerships, such as the recent collaboration with [US aerospace company] Boeing to advance university-wide innovation and [pharmaceuticals company] Pfizer to promote innovation in the health-tech space,” he said.

In early January, prior to Trump’s inauguration, IIT-D hosted US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

During his visit, Sullivan emphasised the importance of joint technological development between India and the US, including in space and defence-related technologies, and stressed active participation in the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), a collaboration between the two countries to strengthen research-industry participation.

A new ‘global configuration’

Agarwal said that for India, an accelerated transition towards a research-intensive academic framework more broadly will be bolstered by international exposure and funding. This will strengthen the nation’s innovation ecosystem, aligning research with industrial and societal needs.

For the US, it means reinforced research ties with India, leading to a “diversified and dynamic” research and development landscape. In the face of global competition in sectors like AI and quantum computing, “this partnership offers strategic advantages”, he said.

This has been noted by other commentators around the world, some of whom see the close ties and technology co-operation between the US and India as the beginnings of a new global research configuration.

For example, the US-India agreement on emergent technologies appears to signal a move away from high-end research with China in those fields, with the US increasingly seeing China as a competitor and rival, experts said.

During the Modi-Trump meeting, the US “went all out on the science and technology front, more or less to say ‘India is our new partner’”, said Denis Simon, an expert on China’s research and innovation at the Washington-based think tank, the Quincey Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

A five-year Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement (STA) signed between China and the US in December, the last weeks of former president Joe Biden’s presidency, notably excluded “critical and emerging technologies” that are now part of the US-India joint agreement, Simon, who played an advisory role in the STA negotiations, told University World News.

Others note that the status of the STA with China is already at risk of being renegotiated to limit it even further or being scrapped by the Trump administration.

The joint statement with India “is basically at the expense of China”, said Simon, who described it as part of a “reconfiguration of the global science and technology landscape”.

Simon noted: “We’ve already seen a decline in Chinese-US [research] collaboration, and a number of people [in the Trump administration] are trying to say to China, ‘India is going to be that chosen partner. India offers a lot of good opportunities and reliable opportunities’.”

US-India TRUST

In addition to educational initiatives, India and the US also launched the US-India TRUST – Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology – programme.

This initiative is aimed at bolstering association among government agencies, academic institutions, and private sector entities and focuses on critical and emerging technologies, including defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, energy, and space.

The two countries committed to the creation of a US-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure by the end of the year as part of the TRUST initiative.

The roadmap will address challenges related to financing, constructing, and expanding AI infrastructure in India, facilitating the integration of US-origin AI systems.

The collaboration will foster industry partnerships, encourage investment in next-generation data centres, and support the development of AI-driven innovations while safeguarding sensitive technologies.

Central to the Modi-Trump discussions was the launch of INDUS Innovation, a platform designed to strengthen collaborations between academic and industrial sectors in the US and India.

INDUS Innovation builds on the success of the INDUS-X programme and will encourage investment and collaboration in areas such as space, energy, and emerging technologies “to position both nations as global leaders in innovation while addressing the technological challenges of the 21st century”.

Alignment challenges

However, experts feel the partnership faces some challenges, such as alignment of the regulatory and policy frameworks of the two countries, especially in areas like data sharing and intellectual property rights.

“Navigating bureaucratic hurdles and ensuring streamlined administrative procedures can also slow down project approvals. Additionally, managing joint funding mechanisms with transparency and accountability will require meticulous planning,” said Agarwal.

“Intellectual property (IP) conflicts are a significant risk, as collaborative research often leads to patent disputes. Establishing clear IP sharing agreements will be essential.”

He also pointed to geopolitical risks. “Any shifts in diplomatic relations or policy changes could impact the partnership’s continuity,” said Agarwal, who also warned that differences in research priorities between India and the US could lead to conflicts in project selection and resource allocation.