Azlan Othman
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and Education Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh and Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi jointly inaugurated the ASEAN-India Network of Universities (AINU) recently.
AINU is aimed at twinning universities in India and ASEAN under areas of interest through the Faculty Exchange programmes, the ASEAN Secretariat said.
Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi, in his opening remarks, appreciated the ongoing scholarship programmes offered by India and hoped the network will contribute to the ASEAN Workplan on Education (2021-2025) as well as the various cross-sectoral initiatives including the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, the ASEAN Declaration on Human Resource Development for the Changing World of Work, and the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025.
Dr Singh highlighted India’s New Education Policy and its relevance in forging collaboration between educational institutions in India and ASEAN.
The deputy secretaries-general of ASEAN, permanent representatives of the ASEAN member states to ASEAN, vice chancellor of the Nalanda University and other dignitaries joined the launch event at the ASEAN Secretariat.
Meanwhile, representatives of AINU’s participating universities and the executive director of the ASEAN University Network attended the event online.
The inauguration of AINU marks a significant milestone for ASEAN and India as they celebrate 2022 as the ASEAN-India Friendship Year to commemorate 30 years of relationship.
The event proceeded with the Indian Minister’s interaction with the committee of permanent representatives to ASEAN to discuss ASEAN-India relations and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
