India, UK to sign MOUs,discuss coop.against terror,climate change

New Delhi, Jan 19 (UNI) India and the United Kingdom will sign two significant business Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) here tomorrow during the visit of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the Fourth Indo-UK summit.

Britain's Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, John Hutton, and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath will witness the signing ceremony.

The two sides will also enter into an MOU on India-UK Higher Education Leadership Development Programme to develop leadership skills in Indian universities.

University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE), UK, and UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), UK, are the partners in the proposed MoU.

It will establish a leadership development programme that will enable the participants to gain first-hand experience of senior management and leadership goals, issues and processes in Indian and the UK higher education institutions and will set up a partnership programme of leadership development between senior higher educations managers of both countries.

The MoU between UKSkills and WorldSkills, India, to be signed by the CII General Secretary and UKSkills Chief Executive Simon Bartley, will further enhance cooperation between the two countries in vocational skills.

The MoU will also help create a support structure for the development of a National Skills Team and their participation in WorldSkills International, and other competitions.

WorldSkills International is the biggest skills competition in the world that sets 'world standards' in over 45 skill categories ranging from cabinet making to web design.

Ranbaxy Chairman Malvinder Singh and the Chairman on i2india Holdings, Chris Mathias, will also sign a Statement of Intent that will focus on commercialisation of intellectual property developed in India.

The MoU will have a significant impact on India's innovation ecosystem, the British High Commission announced here today.

Mr Brown, who is arriving here tomorrow on a two-day visit, his maiden visit as Prime Minister, said he hoped to work with India to reduce carbon emission and discuss ways to counter terrorism, step up bilateral trade and investmnent and cooperation in higher education.

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