BENGALURU: Despite the current geopolitical situation between Canada and India, there will be no problems with the transit of students for educational purposes said Professor Rhonda Lenton, President, Vice Chancellor, York University, Canada in her visit to Bengaluru, on Friday.
“Canadian university representatives are in India, and on the ground along with their partners, to make it very clear that India is very important to us. It is a strategic partner and we want to deepen the relationship that we have with the country,” she added.
Lenton was speaking on the sidelines of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for academic collaboration with OP Jindal Global University and supporting student mobility between the two countries.
On speaking about the current geopolitics between the two nations she said, “I do not think that politics is the major premise for building any international relationship. From an inductive point of view, universities working in collaboration will still have the same courtesy towards each other.”
The MoU will focus on student and faculty exchange programs, short-term study abroad programs, dual-degree programs, and collaborative research projects. A recent data from the Canadian Bureau for International Education stated that currently, there are over 8 lakh international students in Canada with 34 per cent of them from India, contributing over 30 billion dollars to Canada.
C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, OP Jindal Global University spoke to TNIE and said, “There are implications at the geopolitical level. But as universities, we are conscious of the role and responsibilities we play.
Education has helped to cement better ties with countries even in the most difficult situations,” and added that he hopes that the situation gets better, however the university’s primary focus remains education.
This partnership looks at investing in several critical initiatives, to strengthen the ties and create mutually beneficial opportunities for students.