Brasilia, 1 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The National Scientific and Technological Development Council (CNPq) and the Indian Academy of Sciences signed a cooperation agreement in New Delhi on Thursday. Through this agreement, the Indian Academy and the CNPq pledge to step up the exchange between Brazilian and Indian scientists and to promote workshops and joint research projects.

One of the areas of cooperation is information technology, aimed at achieving progress not only in the scientific field (banking automation, universal language), but in the commercial area as well. For this purpose, a Brazilian mission will travel to India in May to detail joint projects.

As a response, an Indian team will come to Brazil to straighten cooperation in the area of biotechnology, most notably in the fields of human health care and biosecurity. In the second half of the year, another mission will visit Brasilia to interact in the field of oceanography. The preservation of swamp areas and of bays is also of interest to both nations. Both the Guanabara Bay, in Brazil, and the Bay of Bengal, in India, are undergoing a process for their decontamination. (MW)