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Educational ties central to India-US partnership: Indian envoy
The discussions focused on expanding university collaborations, research exchanges and academic mobility between India and the United States.
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Lalit K Jha (IANS) - Sun, 10, May 2026
- 10:15 EDT
- 30
Gilmpse of the event / New India Abroad
India’s Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States, Namgya Khampa, called for deeper university and research collaborations between India and the United States, describing education as a defining pillar of the future bilateral partnership.
Speaking at the “India Abroad North Carolina Dialogue 2026” in Raleigh, Khampa said India’s new National Education Policy was creating major opportunities for American universities and research institutions to expand their presence and partnerships in India.
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“We are happy to host US universities in India,” Khampa said, adding that several American institutions were already exploring opportunities under the new policy framework.
“There are several US universities looking at this proposition,” she said.
Khampa urged North Carolina’s leading universities and innovation hubs to strengthen engagement with India through academic exchanges, joint research, technology partnerships and innovation-driven collaboration.
“We’d love for North Carolina to be part of that stream of traffic to India for educational opportunities,” she said.
The conversation took place during the concluding session of the event moderated by Sejal Mehta.
Highlighting the scale of educational ties, Khampa noted that more than 300,000 Indian students currently study in the United States, making education one of the strongest bridges between the two democracies.
“The last figure I saw was over 300,000 Indian students coming to the US to study,” she said.
She said North Carolina itself had emerged as an important destination for Indian students and researchers across universities and research institutions.
Khampa stressed that academic exchanges extended beyond classrooms and degrees, calling them long-term investments in the India-US strategic partnership.
“Educational partnerships are not only important from the perspective of people-to-people exchanges,” she said. “They are about investing in the future of this partnership.”
She also called for stronger alumni engagement between institutions in both countries.
“We can work on energizing some of the alumni networks that already exist in the United States,” she said.
Describing students and researchers as “the custodians of this partnership,” Khampa said educational mobility and research collaboration would play a critical role in shaping the next phase of India-US ties.
The envoy also spoke about India’s expanding global profile and the importance of projecting India’s story internationally.
“We are a young nation state, but we are an ancient civilization,” she said.
Khampa said India’s growing confidence, innovation ecosystem and economic transformation were opening new avenues for collaboration across sectors.
Reflecting on her diplomatic journey, she also highlighted the growing role of women in India’s foreign service.
“There is hardly any ceiling that we haven’t shattered in the foreign service,” she said, describing India’s diplomatic corps as “a very progressive space.”
The session also touched on literature, cultural diplomacy and India’s global image, with Khampa praising the writings of S. Jaishankar and recommending his books to the audience.
North Carolina is home to major research institutions including Duke University, University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University, all of which maintain growing academic and research engagement with India.
Education has emerged as one of the strongest pillars of India-US relations, with Indian students forming one of the largest international student communities in the United States and bilateral collaboration expanding rapidly across technology, science, healthcare and innovation sectors.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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