S&T ADVISOR DR. NINA FEDOROFF ENGAGES S&T MINISTER SIBAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000654 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS STATE FOR STAS STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ENRG TSPL TRGY KSCA KGHG IN SUBJECT: S&T ADVISOR DR. NINA FEDOROFF ENGAGES S&T MINISTER SIBAL ON INDO-US SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION NEW DELHI 00000654 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. SUMMARY: Dr. Fedoroff met with Minister of Science and Technology (MoST) Kapal Sibal on February 21 and discussed the scope of Indo - U.S. science and technology collaboration. Both agreed that greater collaboration would be beneficial to the relationship. In addition, Sibal noted the difficulty the Visas Mantis program placed on Indian scientists wanting to travel to the United States and urged the U.S. to reconsider the program. END SUMMARY. ¶2. Minister Sibal thanked Dr. Fedoroff for the "wonderful collaboration" between the GOI and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and noted that while there are many collaborative S&T programs between the two countries, there were few "big ticket" projects. Sibal went on to state there should be "huge collaboration" in S&T in order to reflect the importance of the relationship. He noted an offer he has made to match funds up to USD 100 million for a large-scale joint Indo-U.S. project and stated he has made the offer to various U.S. interlocutors including President Bush's Science Advisor Dr. John Marburger, HHS Secretary Leavitt, and Commerce Secretary Gutierrez. Sibal lamented the fact that current S&T collaboration did not correspond to what the U.S. labels a strategic partnership and that future collaboration should reflect the breadth and depth of the Indo-U.S. relationship. ¶3. SciCouns offered to develop and finalize a strategic plan for Indo-U.S. S&T collaboration within a three to six month timeframe that could be concluded on a parallel track to current negotiations. Sibal stated the GOI was ready to proceed and suggested that each country could have four nominees which could also include members of the private sector. Dr. Fedoroff noted joint collaboration should be done on a multi-agency basis and Sibal readily agreed. SciCouns suggested the two countries begin in the field of nanotechnology. Sibal welcomed the suggestion and stated research in nanotechnology would benefit greatly from bilateral and even multilateral cooperation. ¶4. Dr. Fedoroff noted funding for S&T programs was a difficult issue. Sibal stated the problem is funding in the United States is dispersed to the agencies and suggested the USG set up a central body to oversee S&T funding (Comment: The Minister's observation was perhaps in the context of funding for US-India projects. End Comment). He also noted the USG budget for science and technology has been declining and expressed hope that it could be reversed. Dr. Fedoroff noted that certain agencies, the Department of Defense, in particular, had strong interest in science and technology and that perhaps they should be included in joint collaborative projects. ¶5. SciCouns stated the National Science Foundation (NSF) intended to place an NSF Fellow in the Embassy for approximately three months at a time and that he was planning on using this opportunity to try to increase the number of collaborative projects. SciCouns also mentioned the need for India to send scientists to NSF and Sibal stated he would send two or three people to NSF and could do so within a matter of weeks. Dr. Fedoroff noted that NSF's mission was to support U.S. science but if that role were to expand, a mechanism to allow investigators to go through a joint review process would help expedite matters. Sibal did not see this as a problem and stated that while there was no equivalent to NSF in India, the Department of Science and Technology had a peer reviewed competitive assessment process and had the ability to fund both intramural and extramural projects. ¶6. SciCouns raised the issue of the Visas Mantis process and the resulting delays in the travel of Indian scientists. Sibal stated this was in fact a problem and that the GOI had raised it several times and hoped the U.S. could resolve the issue. He noted that when Indian scientists are delayed by the visa process, they develop a mindset that travel to the United States is not necessary and that such an outcome was detrimental to the relationship. ¶7. When asked about the projected three-fold increase in the GOI's funding for science and technology, Sibal stated the funding was not just for infrastructure but was across the board. He also noted that the current program allows for even greater funding based on performance and that MoST was intending to establish centers of excellence as well as fund both large companies and private universities. ¶8. This cable has been cleared by Dr. Fedoroff. NEW DELHI 00000654 002.2 OF 002 MULFORD