09-04-2025
Sheikh Hamdan in India: IIM, IIFT to launch Dubai campuses; medical students to train at AIIMS
Top Indian institutes are set to open Dubai campuses following Sheikh Hamdan's first-ever visit to the South Asian country at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Several partnerships between Indian and Dubai educational institutions were announced during the visit of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence of the UAE.
On Tuesday evening, India's Minister of Industry and Supply, Piyush Goyal, announced, "Today, we decided that we will soon have an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Dubai," he said. "I am also looking forward very soon to launching the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in Dubai. All of this reflects the deep connection between the two nations."
Located in 21 cities across India, several branches of lIMs are often featured in the list of top 100 global business schools. Some of its most prominent alums include former Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi and former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan.
Meanwhile, IIFT is a public business school established in 1963 and headquartered in New Delhi. Details on where the institutes will open and when will be revealed later.
Last year, the much-awaited first branch of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) opened in Abu Dhabi. For the academic year 2024-2025, the IIT-Delhi Abu Dhabi campus offered two bachelor's programmes in computer science and energy engineering.
Medical students
Meanwhile, medical students from Dubai will get an opportunity to have an exchange programme in India at one of the country's top medical institutes, thanks to agreement signed by Dubai Medical University (DMU) with the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The deal was signed between the SS Lootah group, which runs the DMU, and AlIMS ahead of the Dubai-India business forum, which began in Mumbai on Tuesday.
"This is a great opportunity for our students," said Denis Lefjancois, advisor to the chairman of SS Lootah group. "With the history of the AlIMS, all of their great experience, skills, facilities that they have, the number of patients that they see, the number of students that go through the institution, it is so going to be a great experience for our students."
The AlIMS is a group of public medical universities in India. The oldest one was established in 1956 in New Delhi, and currently, there are 20 operational universities, with at least three more expected in the coming years. Considered one of the finest medical universities in India, AlIMS collectively takes in over 2000 students every year.
According to Dr A Shariff, a spokesperson for AlIMS, the program will begin this year.
"Initially, there will be some posting of DMU students for a short time as observers, along with our students, at AIMS Delhi," he said. "Based on the requirement, some of our professors may come over for a short time as visiting faculty."
He said there would be a mutual exchange of information, and faculty members would train each other in newer medical and educational technologies. He added that artificial intelligence is one thing that he was looking forward to cooperating with DMU for.
