Washington State University recently hosted Prakash Gupta, consulate general of India, on the Pullman campus for a presentation about the special relationship between the United States and India.
Gupta, who is based in Seattle, said during his early March presentation that agricultural technology is an important field where an exchange of resources, research, faculty, and students could greatly benefit both countries and WSU.
“When it comes to WSU, we are very keen to work with ag tech,” Gupta said.
Students from India routinely number in the top two for international student enrollment at WSU. Often, the draw is WSU’s R1 status, particularly for nuclear science, engineering, and agriculture, among other disciplines.
Dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, Raj Khosla, and Dean of the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, Partha Pande, attended the event, and Gupta suggested possible avenues for future partnership with the colleges.
“More frequent student exchanges, more faculty exchanges, and whether we can work together to do joint research are some of the steps we should work on,” Gupta said.
Gupta’s team also toured research facilities at Voiland and at the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resources Sciences’ Plant Growth Facility.
Gupta was invited to the event by Michael Baumgartner, U.S. Representative for Washington’s Fifth Congressional District. Baumgartner’s team partnered with WSU’s government relations team and International Programs to coordinate the event. About 60 people attended, which included a Q & A with Gupta and Baumgartner.
Discussions focused on strengthening academic and research partnerships, increasing student mobility, and fostering deeper intellectual exchange between institutions in the US and India.
Gupta said inviting faculty to spend a month at Indian universities would be a great starting point to build on the exchange of students and faculty.
“We could have an MOU between universities that could lead to expanding study abroad and joint research projects,” he said.
WSU President Betsy Cantwell spoke at the beginning of the event, highlighting the land-grant mission and its relevance across the globe.
“I want students from Washington to experience by going there to see what it is to be in India, what it feels like, what the people are like. And then come back and make further partnerships realized,” Cantwell said.
