Government Plans to Set Up Offshore Johns Hopkins University Campus in India

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.

Part of the delegation were 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 drew attention to the transformative opportunities occasioned by the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), which has opened the door to academic collaborations and advancing the education sector in India.

He welcomed the university's commitment toward building robust partnerships with Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) which facilitates this global exchange of knowledge, especially in dual and joint degree programmes, two-way mobility of students and faculty, and research partnerships in emerging fields such as data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and futuristic technologies.

The minister added that these collaborations would have a great scope to motivate innovation and entrepreneurship among students of the two nations. The meeting emphasized developing academic and research tie-ups between JHU and premier Indian HEIs.

"The visit of the delegation showcases the importance of education cooperation between India and the United States," said the Ministry of Education. It would visit multiple Indian university campuses to interact with key government officials, academic leaders, and embassy representatives in its multi-city tour to shore up JHU's operations in India and advance its internationalization efforts.

Other Indian-origin faculty members of JHU who participated in the discussion are Mathuram Santosham, Professor of Paediatrics and International Health, and Chirag Parikh, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Nephrology. The delegation included officials of GKII as well as members of its advisory board, such as Raj and Kamla Gupta, Deepak Raj, Kunal Pal, and Neetisha Besra, said a statement by the ministry.