VZCZCXRO2949
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHNE #0654/01 0631003
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031003Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0696
INFO RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1864
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 2555
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 1658
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 8528
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 4332
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUCPDC/NOAA NMFS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

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