New Delhi: A meeting with Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, inspecting the construction of a new centre for artificial intelligence, robotics, and cybernetics at the NIMS University and receiving an honorary doctorate. That’s how Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala spent his time when visiting Jaipur Thursday.
Fiala’s visit to NIMS University in Jaipur is part of his goal of developing “scientific and research collaboration” with India — an objective underlined by the fact that he was accompanied on his visit to the country by academics and scientists.
“The construction of the Mařík Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cybernetics at @NimsUniversity, which began last spring, is proof of the good science and research collaboration between the Czech Republic and India,” Fiala, who arrived in India on 9 January, posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
During his visit, he also oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Czech Technical University and NIMS University under the “Indo-Pacific European Hub for Digital Partnerships Trusted Digital Technologies for Sustainable Well Being (INPACE) programme.
“In Jaipur, India, a place is being created that will significantly connect Czech and Indian science in areas that offer great potential for the future,” Fiala continued on X.
The focus on artificial intelligence collaboration was underlined by Fiala during his speech at the Vibrant Gujarat summit being held in Gandhinagar from 10-12 January. Fiala spoke at the summit Wednesday and met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of Vibrant Gujarat.
“My government is mainly interested in long-term strategic investment. This includes AI research, electromobility, and especially semiconductors. They are key for high-tech industries today, from cars to mobile phones,” news agency ANI quoted Fiala as saying at the summit Wednesday.
The visit to India comes even as an Indian citizen — Nikhil Gupta — has been incarcerated in Prague since 30 June 2023. Gupta was indicted in the US with a murder-for-hire plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor and spokesperson for the Sikhs for Justice, and designated an individual terrorist in India. The Ministry of Home Affairs outlawed the Sikhs for Justice in 2019.
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India-Czechia Strategic Partnership on Innovation
On the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat summit, India and the Czech Republic announced the ‘India-Czechia Strategic Partnership on Innovation’ in a joint statement Wednesday. The joint statement aims to deepen cooperation between New Delhi and Prague in sectors such as start-up and innovation, cyber-security, digital domains, artificial intelligence, defence, nuclear energy, and circular economy.
“The two leaders also welcomed the adoption of the Joint Statement for India-Czechia Strategic Partnership on Innovation as a significant milestone in India-Czechia bilateral relations,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement Wednesday.
The joint statement also saw both countries underlining their support for the conclusion of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union, of which the Czech Republic is a member, and India.
The EU-India FTA has long been in discussion but has lately been gathering steam. During his visit to New Delhi Wednesday, Irish foreign secretary Joe Hackett also joined the chorus of European leaders pushing for the successful conclusion of an FTA between the EU and India.
The other areas of cooperation agreed to by Prague and New Delhi include medical research, health, clean environment, smart transport, agriculture, people-to-people ties, and scientific mobility.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)