India’s permanent status in global agreement on engineers extended

Abhay Anand | June 22, 2020 | 05:57 PM IST

NEW DELHI: India’s permanent signatory status in the Washington Accord has been extended by another six years. The Washington Accord encourages and facilitates the mobility of engineering graduates and professionals at the international level.

Union Human Resource Development Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, congratulating the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) which represents India, wrote on Twitter: “Glad to share that India has got the Permanent Signatory status of Washington Accord for a further period of 6 years. In the Washington Accord, India is represented by the National Board of Accreditation. I congratulate the entire nation and the whole team of the NBA for success.”

Glad to share that India has got the Permanent Signatory status of Washington Accord for a further period of 6 years. In the Washington Accord, India is represented by the National Board of Accreditation. I congratulate the entire nation and the whole team of NBA for the success.
— Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) June 22, 2020

Earlier, In June 2015, India became a permanent member of the Accord which helps Indian engineering graduates get a level playing field in postgraduate studies and jobs in the United States, the UK and many other European and prominent countries.

The Washington Accord is an international agreement between the participating nations to streamline the process of accrediting engineering degree programs globally and facilitate young engineering graduates to travel overseas for further studies or work. India had been a provisional signatory of the WA since 2007, which has the USA, UK, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Australia, Canada and Japan as signatories.

Pokhriyal tweeted that the membership of the Washington Accord is international recognition of the quality of undergraduate engineering education offered by the member country and is an avenue to bring it into the world-class category.

The seamless mobility of graduates through WA opens up vast opportunities in the engineering field across the world, and all the member countries can benefit from it.