Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called upon scientists of developing countries to make a renewed and determined effort to augment knowledge to face common challenges.
Speaking at the inaugural of the 21st general meeting of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World here, Dr Singh also called for application of scientific knowledge “relevant to our own needs and circumstances.”
“The challenges that developing countries face are similar, whether it is in combating tropical diseases, transforming traditional agriculture, or predicting and tackling natural disasters,” he said at the TWAS meeting attended by about 350 scientists from around 50 developing countries.
“These problems of underdevelopment do not receive adequate attention in the advanced industrialised countries. Nor should we expect others to solve our problems for us,” he added.
Warning that the path of development followed by the industrialised countries had the “potential to threaten our existence”, Dr Singh wondered whether there was an alternative and more sustainable way of developing “our societies and economies”.
He said the developing world was constrained by the lack of well-organised systems and critical mass of expertise in its scientific establishments. There was shortage of skilled scientific manpower and research facilities.
“Problems we cannot solve individually, perhaps we can solve by working together,” he added.
Stating that the developing nations need to invest in science, Dr Singh also sought a change in pedagogical methods that emphasised memory rather than inquiry.
“An important issue that sometimes bedevils collaboration on research is the sharing of intellectual property rights,” said the Prime Minister. “We need to address this problem head on.”
The Prime Minister stressed the need for South-South cooperation on challenges facing developing world. The India Brazil South Africa Forum provides a unique framework of cooperation among three major democracies from three different continents.
Recalling his long association with the Pakistani scientist, Prof. Abdus Salam, who founded TWAS, Dr Singh said the veteran had great faith in the potential of scientists of the developing world and also in the essential unity of the scientific purpose in advancing human civilisation as a whole.