On 4 June 2025, the Latvian Minister of Education and Science Dace Melbārde held a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Republic of Latvia Ms Namrata Satdeve Kumar. During the meeting, the two sides discussed opportunities for cooperation in higher education and research, as India is one of the world's leading exporters of information technology and innovation.
The need to promote direct contacts between research institutions in both countries was highlighted during the discussion. For example, in the field of science and innovation, Latvia sees potential for cooperation with India in the areas of the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) - bioeconomy, biomedicine, smart technologies and engineering systems, information and communication technologies, etc. Latvia is currently actively developing five Smart Specialisation Areas, as well as introducing the principles of open science, which opens up opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.
The recently launched cooperation between the two countries in the field of space exploration - between the Latvian Space Industry Association and the Indian Space Research Organisation - was also highlighted. The Minister expressed interest in continuing the dialogue on joint research, innovation, Earth observation and the use of satellite data, taking into account India's global achievements in these fields of research.
The two sides also discussed other issues related to education and science, including higher education.
Source: Ministry of Education and Science
