Ambassador Jaimini Bhagwati visits Leuven
“There is room for increased and more diverse contact between India and Belgium”
Every month, K.U.Leuven invites an ambassador working in Brussels to deliver a lecture on a topical social theme. On 17 November, India’s ambassador to Belgium, His Excellency Jaimini Bhagwati, spoke as part of this Ambassador’s Lectures Series.
“India and Europe have an old, historic relationship,” Bhagwati says. “I did not devote very much attention to this relationship in my speech because it is fairly evident. Economically, however, a great deal of progress is still possible. I spoke about the global context, which generates many challenges, but at least as many possibilities. I then focused on more specific aspects of economic contacts with Europe, and finally with Belgium. I consider such lectures to be a very important part of my job. I would like to do it more often, but my packed schedule tends to get in the way.”
“I began my diplomatic mission at the embassy in Brussels in September 2008, on exactly the same day Lehman Brothers went bankrupt – so it was a day that left quite an impression on me. I had heard of K.U.Leuven before, but it was only when I started working in Belgium that I was impressed by the strongly diverse and leading research that is conducted in Leuven. Contacts with the academic world are indeed of great importance, especially in contacts between India and Belgium. It is not a simple coincidence that when King Albert II visited India for a week in 2008, he was joined by an important academic delegation. Academic exchange on the level of students and researchers is already considerable, but there is certainly still room for development. This is not only true of Leuven, but also of other Belgian universities. In Antwerp, for example, there are a number of Indian doctoral students, just as there are at K.U.Leuven.”
“There is not only room for more academic contacts, but also for diversification, especially in the fields of the sciences and applied sciences. India is making tremendous advances in these areas. In New Delhi, for example, where I studied physics, or at the Tata Institute in Mumbai, or in Bangalore, with its enormous IT sector, as well as at numerous other universities, India is wellconnected to the international scientific world. There is thus a sound basis for academic co-operation. The fact that our countries share many political, social and other values only serves to make this basis more attractive.”
The ambassador's speech can be found online.
On 24 February, the German Ambassador Reinhard Bettzeuge will deliver an Ambassador’s Lecture.
