The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Health Research (DHR), convened a high-level regional dialogue yesterday at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi, bringing together representatives from Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, and India. The meeting marked an important step toward strengthening health research systems across South and Southeast Asia to ensure research informs policy, addresses regional priorities, and builds sustainable frameworks for the future.
The dialogue featured eminent experts and policymakers, including Dr V.K. Paul (NITI Aayog), Shri Amit Agrawal (Department of Pharmaceuticals), Dr Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi (DCGI), Prof. K. Srinath Reddy (PHFI), Dr Shamika Ravi (EAC-PM), Dr Shivkumar Kalyanaraman (ANRF), Shri Rajesh Bhushan (Former Health Secretary), and Dr Renu Swarup (Former DBT Secretary).
Highlighting India’s leadership in med-tech innovation, Shri Amit Agrawal urged regional partners to engage with India’s open innovation platforms to foster start-ups, accelerate breakthroughs, and deliver affordable solutions that serve both economic growth and public health.
In the way forward session, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary DHR & DG-ICMR, emphasized India’s commitment to global partnerships and South–South collaboration, noting that science diplomacy and capacity building are key to ensuring research benefits people directly.
South–South Collaboration: Joint efforts to tackle AMR, NCDs, and One Health challenges.
Pooling Resources: Shared focus on med-tech innovation, epidemiology training, ethics, and quality assurance.
Bridging Research & Policy: Formal mechanisms for translating scientific evidence into actionable programmes.
Capacity Building: ICMR to share ethics tools, training modules, and resources with partner nations.
The countries agreed to establish structured mechanisms for collaboration, including annual convenings, exchange visits, and joint programmes in research methods, ethics, grant writing, and science communication. Each nation will take leadership in thematic areas such as One Health, Pandemic Preparedness, Infectious Diseases, NCDs, Maternal Health, and Medical Innovation.
The event concluded with a collective pledge to shift from knowledge-sharing to joint action, ensuring health research across the region directly responds to shared needs and priorities.