New Delhi: India and the U.S. have the capacity to lead global education, said John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State, as several institutions from the two countries announced tie-ups and collaborations.

Kerry, on a three-day official visit to India, said the two countries needed to lead the way as a large young population has to be trained.

"There are gigantic challenges. People don't just have to be trained for work; they need to be trained so that they can take part in democracy, so that they know how to decide between fiction and fact. This is something India and the U.S. have the capacity to share with the world," Kerry said.

He said the partnership is two-way, and students from the U.S. are also coming to India.

"More exchange promises broadening of horizons," he said.

Welcoming the partnership, Human Resource Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju said skill development was a key area of focus for India, and U.S. partnership in this field would help.

"The median age of India's population is 28 years. Skill development is an important area. Institution-level collaboration with the community colleges in the U.S. would help," he said.

This is the third round of talks under the Singh-Obama initiative.

Eight memoranda of understanding were signed between the two countries. These include the Harvard-India Nutrition Initiative between Harvard School of Public Health and St. John's Research Institute, Bangalore; an MoU between Aligarh Muslim University and Ohio State University, and between Assam Agricultural University and Washington State University.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama announced the Obama-Singh Initiative in November 2009 as an affirmation of their commitment to building an enhanced India-U.S. partnership in education. Each government pledged $5 million for this endeavor, for a total of $10 million.

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