The UAB welcomes representatives from some 20 Indian universities

Rector Lafuente thanked the representatives of the Indian universities for their visit and wished them an enjoyable stay at the UAB. He also went over some facts about the UAB, its internationalisation and the high percentage of foreign students at master's and PhD levels, its unique characteristics as a university campus, and the intensive research work carried out. Vice-Rector for International Relations and Language Policy Laura Santamaria also spoke to welcome the visitors and briefly explain the linguistic reality of Catalonia.

Vinay Pathak, president of the Association of Indian Universities, gave a speech at the inauguration of the meeting to explain that the university system agenda of both countries have "much in common" within a globalised context and marked by phenomena such as the development of open artificial intelligence. Pathak said he would like the visit to "help foster collaborations between both knowledge systems" in India and Spain, and manifested the interest of universities in India to increase the number of exchanges so that more Indian students could attend Spanish universities.

Jordi Marín spoke on behalf of SEPIE to hope that this meeting will be "a significant step" in the relations between the universities of both countries and thanked the organisation of the event on the UAB campus, about which he said that its "commitment to internationalisation is an example for all of us". And Pia Moret, representing the Inter-University Council of Catalonia, presented data on the Catalan university system, highlighting the offer of degrees in English and the importance of Catalan higher education institutions in international student exchange circuits.

During the day, representatives from the Indian universities visited the campus and became familiar with the Erasmus+ programme and other aspects of the internationalisation of the university system, as well as the research system in Catalonia. The Catalan universities also had the opportunity to learn about the Indian university system and its international relations. In the afternoon, the Indian delegation travelled to Barcelona to visit the UB and its historical building.