New Delhi/Zanzibar/UNI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is visiting Tanzania, on Wednesday witnessed the signing of an agreement to set up the Zanzibar campus of IIT Madras. It is the first IIT campus to be set up outside India.

The EAM also attended a deck reception hosted onboard INS Trishul with President of Zanzibar Hussein Ali Mwinyi.

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous province of Tanzania.

In tweets, the EAM said, "Witnessed the signing of the agreement on setting up of @iitmadras Zanzibar campus. Appreciate President @DrHmwinyi gracing the occasion, as also the presence of his Ministers. This historic step reflects India’s commitment to the Global South."

On the deck reception on board INS Trishul, he said, "Attended a deck reception hosted onboard INS Trishul with President of Zanzibar @DrHmwinyi. Welcomed the presence of the Speaker, Ministers, MPs, senior officers from Tanzanian Defence Forces and Indian diaspora.

"INS Trishul’s presence in Zanzibar today is a statement of our SAGAR commitment."

Earlier, in his meeting with the President of Zanzibar, he tweeted, "Delighted to meet President of Zanzibar Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi.

"Appreciated his strong commitment to stronger India-Zanzibar partnership. Our development partnership and defence cooperation are domains with which he is closely associated."

The first IIT campus to be set up outside India will be in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up of campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar- Tanzania was signed between the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India, IIT Madras and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) Zanzibar- Tanzania on July 5, in the presence of Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar and S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India.

This campus is reflective of the longstanding friendship between India and Tanzania and a reminder of the focus India places on building people to people ties across Africa and the Global South, a statement said.

Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, High Commissioner of India, Tanzania, Prof. Raghunathan Rengaswamy, Dean (Global Engagement), IIT Madras and Khalid Masoud Wazir, Acting Principal Secretary, MoEVT Zanzibar, signed the MoU on behalf of MoE, Government of India, IIT Madras and MoEVT Zanzibar- Tanzania, respectively.

National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 focuses on Internationalization and recommends that "High performing Indian universities will be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries”.

Recognizing the strategic partnership between the Tanzania and India, the relationship of educational partnership has been formalized by signing the document which provides the framework for the Parties to detail out the setting up of the proposed campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar- Tanzania, with plans to launch programs in October 2023.

This unique partnership will bring the top-ranked educational expertise of IITM to a prime destination in Africa and serve the imperative current needs of the region. The academic programs, curricula, student selection aspects and pedagogical details will be by IIT Madras, whereas the capital and operating expenditure will be met by the government of Zanzibar-Tanzania.

IIT Madras degrees will be awarded to the students enrolled in this campus. The state-of-the-art interdisciplinary degrees are expected to attract a diverse cohort and will include students from Africa and other countries as well. Indian students are also eligible to apply to these programs.

The setting up of IIT Campus shall also enhance India’s reputation globally and its diplomatic relationships and expand the international footprint of IIT Madras. It is also likely to enhance the quality of IIT Madras education and research further, due to student and faculty diversity from the international campus. It will further serve to deepen research collaborations with other top-ranked academic institutions world-wide, it said.

IIT campus in Zanzibar- Tanzania is envisioned as a world class higher education and research institution with a broader mission to develop competencies in response to emerging global requirements, deepen ties between the nations, and support research and innovation in the region. It will serve as an example to the world of the aspirational qualities of Indian higher education and innovation.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is on a four-day official visit to Tanzania from July 5-8.

He is first visiting Zanzibar from July 5-6, where he will visit a water supply project funded by Government of India line of credit, call on the top leadership and attend a reception onboard Indian Naval Ship Trishul, which is visiting Tanzania.

EAM will thereafter visit the Dar-es-Salaam city of Tanzania from July 7-8, where he will co-chair the 10th India-Tanzania Joint Commission Meeting with his counterpart and call on the country’s top leadership, including several Cabinet rank Ministers.

During the visit, he will meet with the members of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for India and inaugurate an India-Tanzania business meeting. EAM will also be addressing the Indian diaspora and inaugurate the bust of Swami Vivekananda in Dar es Salaam.

India and Tanzania have traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations. EAM’s visit to Tanzania will further consolidate the bilateral relations between our two countries, a statement said.