US-SIBAL 2 LAST

Education, Blake said, is a central element of Indo-US
relationship. "We expect significant new opportunities to
expand our cooperation in this vital field and better harness
the limitless potential of young people in both countries."
"India prides itself on being a knowledge-based society
and they also know that they will have a huge wave of young
people coming into the work force over the next 20 or 30
years.
"That's a significant opportunity when most of the rest of
the world is facing declining birth rates, but it's only a
good opportunity if all those people can receive a meaningful
and practical education, and can be competitive in the
increasingly globalised economy of India," Blake said.
During Prime Minister Singh's visit in November, the two
governments announced a joint expansion of the Fulbright-Nehru
Scholarship Programme for the exchange of students and
scholars, and launched a new effort, the Obama-Singh 21st
Century Knowledge Initiative, to support university
partnerships and junior faculty development, he noted.
"Even without the revised legislation, universities have
already started partnering with each other. I heard this
morning about the University of Chicago's initiative to
conduct joint research with a counterpart in Delhi," Blake
said on Friday. PTI