India and Russia in the past have held discussions on the future development of cooperation in the areas of science and technology and innovation. The countries noted that favourable conditions existed for expanding interaction in the areas of biotechnology, nanotechnology. They were in favour of concentrating their financial resources on joint projects which would serve the interests of national scientific and technological priorities.
Special attention was paid by the two sides to the matter of improving the mechanisms of commercialization and technology transfer. In this connection agreement in principle was reached on drawing up mutually agreed proposals to set up an Indo-Russian Technology Centre.
The two sides exchanged views on establishing interaction between young scientists of India and Russia. It was proposed to examine the possibility of holding regular workshops, conferences and seminars in which they would participate. This kind of interaction would not only promote the growth of academic mobility amongst young scientists, but would also strengthen bilateral ties in the area of science and technology for a long time to come.
In view of the growing significance of science and technology in the overall scheme of bilateral relations, the countries agreed to hold annual inter-ministerial meetings to review the practical issues of cooperation in the field of science and technology and innovations.
India has an Integrated Long Term Programme (ILTP) with Russia, which is India's largest scientific collaboration programme, though the country has such major scientific interaction with several other countries. ILTP has been extended till 2010.
It has been decided to have cooperation in ILTP on various levels. They are development of technology for public benefit, including vaccines, use of technology for public and private sectors and R&D in cutting-edge technology in advanced fields like bio-medical instrumentation, bio, nano and laser technologies.