By Deeksha Teri,TN Education Desk

Copyright timesnownews

Union Minister for Education, Government of India, Dharmendra Pradhan, met with H.E. Sara Musallam, Chairperson, ADEK, at the start of his two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pradhan is on a two-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates from 10–11 September 2025. On day 1, Pradhan visited the IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi Campus, where he inaugurated the Atal Incubation Centre (First foreign Centre) and launched the PhD and BTech programmes in Chemical Engineering and Energy & Sustainability. “Launched BTech and PhD programs in Chemical Engineering and Energy & Sustainability at IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi,” Pradhan posted on microblogging platform, ‘X’. “Congratulated the students for choosing @iitdelhi Abu Dhabi to pursue their studies and also on the new academic chapters that were added today. Confident that my young friends at IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi will leave a trail and also create new milestones for global prosperity and well-being.” He also thanked her and ADEK for ‘all the cooperation extended in establishing IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi Campus and also for the support being extended to Indian curricula schools in the UAE,’ an official release stated. They also had conversations on further expanding cooperation in education, including opening more Indian curriculum-based schools in the UAE to meet the educational needs of the Indian diaspora and facilitating two-way student exchanges right from the school level, among others. The Minister was taken on a guided tour of the campus by the students consisting of various students from India, UAE and other international students. During his tour, he interacted with students in the classroom and also at various laboratories. He said that the state-of-the-art facilities and holistic learning environment enhances the academic journey and contributes to the home away from home experience for students. He appreciated the good mix of students communities at the IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi campus. Pradhan inaugurated Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) at the IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi campus, a first-ever AIC hosted in an Indian institution overseas. Speaking on the occasion Pradhan said that “the AIC at IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi will nurture joint start-ups and research-led ventures by both Indian and UAE innovators and also promote bilateral collaboration in deep tech, AI, clean energy, healthcare and other sectors of mutual importance. The AIC providing world-class incubation facilities will also act as a gateway to the middle-east markets for Indian start-ups and innovators,” he added. Later in the evening, he attended the first anniversary of Dubai campus of Symbiosis University. He will today (September 11) inaugurate the first ever overseas campus of an IIM, i.e. the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). This inauguration will be done along with his counterpart H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, UAE Minister of Higher Education.