Modi and Putin meet talented children; AIM and Sirius sign MoU for exchange of visits

New Delhi, Oct 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin have interacted with a group of talented children from India and Russia on October 5, 2018 in New Delhi. They have been working under Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and the Atal Tinkering Labs at the IIT (Delhi). The joint project of Sirius and AIM are in the areas of Agricultural Technology, Space, Healthcare, Clean Energy and Smart Mobility.

The Ministry of External Affairs said that during the Prime Minister's visit to Sochi in May 2018, he was invited by President Putin to visit Sirius Educational Foundation, a special center for talented children. During his address at the Sirius Foundation, Prime Minister had promised to bring a delegation of students from Sirius to India for interaction and joint workshops with talented children from India.

The ministry said that the visit of the Sirius delegation to India from September 30 to October 7 is actually the realisation of the idea of bringing together talented students from both the countries for joint workshops, projects and interaction. As part of the visit, the delegation has been working with a group of talented students from the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), and the Atal Tinkering Labs at the IIT (Delhi). The joint project of Sirius and AIM are in the areas of Agricultural Technology, Space, Healthcare, Clean Energy and Smart Mobility. These areas have been chosen as focus areas for a sustainable future.

Russian children also interacted with a specially selected group of talented students from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools, as well as winners of the Math and Science Olympiads conducted by the Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education.

The joint projects developed by the Indian and Russian students were presented to the two leaders at the event. The PM and President Putin addressed the gathering, and also answered questions from the students.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between AIM and Sirius, for furthering their cooperation through exchange of visits sharing best practices in the promotion of educational, scientific and innovation and to foster a knowledge driven innovation ecosystem in India and Russia. This will be the beginning of another avenue of cooperation in the Special and Privileged, Strategic Partnership between India and Russia as it enters into the eighth decade.