Washington, Feb 14 (PTI) India and the US have agreed to strengthen collaborations between their higher education institutions, facilitate study abroad and explore opportunities for setting up campuses of premier American colleges in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump during their wide-ranging talks at the White House on Thursday also recognised that the talent flow and movement of students, researchers and employees, has mutually benefitted both countries.

According to the latest Open Doors Report, the number of Indian students studying in the US in the academic year 2023-24 is at 3,31,602, a rise of 23 per cent from 2022-23 when the number stood at 2,68,923.

"President Trump and Prime Minister Modi noted the importance of advancing the people-to-people ties between the two countries. In this context, they noted that the more than 300,000-strong Indian student community contributes over USD 8 billion annually to the US economy and helped create a number of direct and indirect jobs," the joint statement said.

"Recognising the importance of international academic collaborations in fostering innovation, improving learning outcomes and development of a future-ready workforce, both leaders resolved to strengthen collaborations between the higher education institutions through efforts such as joint and dual degree and twinning programmes," it added.

"Establishing joint Centres of Excellence, and setting up of offshore campuses of premier educational institutions of the US in India," the statement said.

During the joint press conference, Modi also said," The Indian community in America is an important link in our relationship. To deepen our people-to-people ties, we will soon open new Indian consulates in Los Angeles and Boston." He also said, "We have invited American universities and educational institutions to open offshore campuses in India." International student enrollment in the United States in 2023 showed a substantial increase from the calendar year 2022.

The total number of SEVIS records for active F-1 and M1 students was 1,503,649 in the calendar year 2023, an increase of 10.4 per cent from the calendar year 2022, according to Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) 2023 SEVIS by the Numbers Report.

SEVIS stands for Students and Exchange Visitor Information System.

F-1 and M-1 are the two non-immigrant student visas. J-1 is also a non-immigrant student visa but is mostly given to scholars in exchange programmes.

In 2023, India topped the list of sending 3,77,620 students to the US. China follows India with 3,30,365 students, according to the report.

"The number of students from India and China made Asia the most popular continent of origin. India sent 27.1 per cent more students compared to 2022 (+80,469). Reversing the trend from 2021 and 2022, China sent 1.9 per cent more students in 2023 (+6,169), the report added.

India last year announced its norms for foreign universities to set up their campuses in India. Previously, India had also opened up doors for foreign universities to have offshore campuses in GIFT City in Gujarat.

While the UK's Southampton University is in the process of setting up its campus in India this year, two Australian universities — Deakin and Wollongong — already have campuses in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).

Queen's University Belfast and Coventry University, have also received approval for setting up campuses in GIFT city. So far no US university has an offshore campus in India. PTI GJS  AMS