Strengthening Knowledge Diplomacy: Dharmendra Pradhan's Strategic Education Engagement In The UAE

Union Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan ended a high-impact visit to the United Arab Emirates with an emphasis on further strengthening India-UAE collaborations in higher education, research, innovation, and globalisation of institutions.

His participation is a strong boost towards making India a global education hub and a stronger people-to-people contact on the basis of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations.

Bilateral Meeting with UAE Education Leadership

In a historic bilateral session, Pradhan and UAE Acting Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr Abdulrahman Abdulmannan Al Awar deliberated on increasing synergy between the education sector and reaffirmed their interest in reinforcing cooperation in the domain of innovation, scientific research, and knowledge.

Business on the agenda included collaborative research in emerging technologies, capacity building, and cultural and inter-academic exchange. Pradhan also expressed gratitude to the UAE a second time for hospitality in receiving hospitality for Indian centers of learning and generosity in accommodating further state-of-the-art Indian institutions in the region.

IIM's new campus embodies the "Indian in spirit, global in approach" ethos, and makes Dubai a strategic entry point for Indian education institutions to reach international students and business economies. It is one that other Indian institutions must emulate to spread their wings internationally and foster international mobility of education.

Pradhan on Wednesday inaugurated the Atal Incubation Centre at IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi campus. The first-ever Atal Incubation Centre in an overseas Indian university, the minister tweeted on microblogging site X. He added that he had gone to the Abu Dhabi campus of IIT Delhi and interacted with the students.

Welcoming the inauguration of Atal Incubation Centre at IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi campus as a historic milestone, the first overseas AIC at an Indian university ever. IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi AIC will develop co-developed start-ups along with research-led start-ups of Indian and UAE innovators and facilitate bilateral co-operation in deep tech, AI, clean energy, healthcare and other interest areas." The AIC with state-of-the-art incubation facilities will also be the gateway to middle-east markets for Indian start-ups and innovators, education minister tweeted on X.

Roundtable with Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Dubai

Pradhan also facilitated a roundtable with Indian HEI leaders in Dubai. The agenda included institutional strategy, pedagogic innovation, and shifting from printing academics to commercializing research produce—a priority of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

He urged "Brand India" to be created as a reflection of faith in world-class education, entrepreneurial culture and innovation and appealed to HEIs to take the lead in bringing together traditional Indian knowledge systems and solutions available today with a market orientation.

Cultural Diplomacy: #EkPedMaaKeNaam in UA

As a sign of environmental and cultural diplomacy in symbolic language, the minister lent her hand to the #EkPedMaaKeNaam campaign by planting the UAE national tree, Ghaf, at the Indian Consulate in Dubai. The Ghaf, the symbol of stability, strength, and peace, is now a living embodiment of Indo-UAE friendship.

The campaign is a follow-up to India's commitment to environmental awareness and respect for motherly heritage in green action.

Strategic Importance

 With India aspiring to host 1 million foreign students by 2030 under its Study in India initiative, such two-way steps like venturing out campuses abroad are at the core of India's soft power outreach.

Apart from this, the NEP 2020 also facilitates internationalisation of Indian higher education, and the present one is empowered to enable the best institutions such as IITs and IIMs to have campuses abroad. The second is the IIM-A Dubai campus, while the first is the IIT Madras Zanzibar campus in Tanzania.

India's Educational Diplomacy

The Dharmendra Pradhan's trip to UAE is a seal of approval on education diplomacy, international outreach, and bilateral innovation linkages. It goes with India's vision not just to sell high-value education but co-produce knowledge clusters outside the world.

Since India is transforming its research and education ecosystem, such action is most needed to drive an era in which Indian institutions are involved at the frontier—locally, globally, and ideationally.