Russia-India: Prospects for Cooperation in the Field of Education and Science
HSE University-St Petersburg actively continues to develop ties with Indian universities, expanding the pool of its partners for mobility and academic exchange programmes.
On April 3–15, a delegation from HSE University-St Petersburg took a business trip to India. Among the delegates was Liudmila Veselova, Academic Supervisor of the Master's programmes ‘International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region’ and ‘Business and Politics in Modern Asia’. India is a growing economy with the largest number of young people in the world, so cooperation with Indian universities in the fields of science and education is one of the priority areas for HSE University-St Petersburg, as previously mentioned in an interview with Anna Tyshetskaya, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg.
India has long been a centre of attraction for foreign education providers, but these have traditionally been universities from the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK. These higher education institutions mainly operate on a commercial basis; they do not seek to develop scientific cooperation, and their primary goal is to attract Indian students who are ready to study in their programmes on a fee-paying basis. Recently, Russian universities have started reorienting towards the east, and as part of this trend, HSE University-St Petersburg seeks to develop its scientific cooperation with India, providing many advantages for internationalisation. Moreover, HSE University is ready to initiate student mobility and faculty exchanges and invite outstanding students from Indian universities to state-funded places on bachelor’s and master’s programmes.
Liudmila Veselova, Academic Supervisor of the Master's programmes ‘International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region’ and ‘Business and Politics in Modern Asia’
The system of higher education in India is similar to that in Russia. In addition, most universities use the same credit-module system as HSE. One undoubted advantage of Indian universities is the high level of English proficiency and the availability of English-language programmes, which means that Russian students do not need to learn Hindi in order to successfully master courses and disciplines. This is convenient because often, students of master’s programmes in China, Japan or Korea have to know Asian languages at a fairly high level. The choice of programmes that Indian universities offer is quite extensive, so Russian students can easily choose a decent university to continue their studies or to visit under a mobility programme. We expect that in the next wave of the mobility competition, a number of Indian universities will become available destinations for HSE University students.
Indian students aim to study abroad because, despite the desire among Indian youth to study, local universities are not always ready to provide enough places for students. HSE University can become a reliable partner for Indian students who are interested in Russia and would like to receive a quality education in our country. For a long time, there was a stereotype that one could go to Russia only for a medical or military education, and this was justified in 1990–2000. I am glad that through active work with colleagues and students from Indian universities, we can overcome this stereotype about Russia and show that our country has a high level of education in other fields as well.
This year, Russia has entered the top five of India's largest trading partners, and many Russian companies are starting to work with Indian partners or targeting the local market. India is of particular interest in terms of our ‘International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region’ programme, as the country is a significant player in the Asia-Pacific region and is only increasing its economic and political presence. Many business schools in India can become potential strategic partners for the programme, so we are interested in expanding and deepening our cooperation.’