India– UK MoU on Mutual Recognition of Academic Qualification: India and the United Kingdom (UK) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual recognition of academic qualifications to facilitate student mobility and collaboration between higher educational institutions of both countries.

Key Details:

• The MoU was signed between Mr. James Bowler, Permanent Secretary, Department of International Trade of United Kingdom (UK) and Mr. K Sanjay Murthy, Secretary (Higher Education), Ministry of Education, Government of India (GoI).
• A comprehensive Roadmap to 2030 was approved in May 2021 during the virtual summit between the Prime Ministers of India and the UK in order to improve bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
• Both sides also agreed to a new Enhanced Trade Partnership.
• The two sides agreed to mutual recognition of academic credentials in order to increase education in light of India's National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020).

Significance of the MoU:

• The Indian Government is taking several steps to allow greater international collaboration with countries abroad to facilitate the Internationalization of education, which is one of the key areas of focus under the NEP 2020.
• The MoU will enable smoother student mobility between the two countries and help in developing stronger institutional collaboration and widen the scope of academic and research collaboration between the Higher Education Institutions of both countries.