While in India this week to speak at a conference on the world economy cosponsored by the School, Dean Glenn Hubbard met with representatives from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), yesterday to announce a partnership with the premier Indian business school. “The partnership between Columbia Business School and IIM-Ahmedabad reflects our mutual interest in entrepreneurship, a shared worldview and a joint quest for innovation in a rapidly changing world,” said Dean Hubbard. “Our interests are well aligned, and now is the perfect time to take full advantage of that.” The School and IIM-A will design and host an international study program for students of both institutions. The two schools also anticipate sharing corporate case studies and collaborating on new case development through faculty exchanges and fresh research. “The proposed exchange of students, faculty and ideas will reinforce our allied interests and provide a broader understanding of the global nature of business for students from both renowned institutions,” said Bakul Dholakia, director of IIM-A. “We welcome Columbia Business School to India and look forward to developing this partnership in the future.” The alliance is one of the School’s many efforts to expand its ties to India. Today, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the School is hosting a conference on the world economy in New Delhi with prominent Indian business and government leaders. Participants include Pelaniappan Chidambaram, minister of finance; Kamal Nath, minister of commerce and industry; Sunil Mittal, vice president of CII and chairman of Bharti Enterprises; Dean Hubbard, the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics; and Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor at Columbia University. In March, the School’s Executive MBA Program is hosting its first international seminar, “Building and Managing Customer Relationships,” in Mumbai. Accompanied by Professor Hitendra Wadhwa, 40 Columbia Business School students are participating in the seminar. On April 6, the School’s South Asia Business Association (SABA) is hosting its 3rd Annual India Business Conference. And later that month, the Social Enterprise Program is sponsoring a research symposium on microfinance that will feature Professor Suresh Sundaresan, the Chase Manhattan Bank Foundation Professor of Financial Institutions, who is working on a microfinance project in conjunction with the Centre for Microfinance Research in Chennai, India. The relationship between India and Columbia University is deeply rooted. B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian constitution, earned a PhD in political science from the University in 1916. The University boasts a large Indian alumni base, expansive scholarship on the region and significant policy contributions to contemporary India. Most recently, President Lee Bollinger and Professor Bhagwati announced plans to launch the Center for the Study of the Indian Economy, further inspiring and supporting India studies at Columbia. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh praised the University’s growing relationship with India in a letter that was read by Professor Bhagwati at today’s conference in New Delhi. “I am happy to note that Columbia Business School, under the leadership of Dean Glenn Hubbard, plans to focus specially on India, in its research and teaching programs,” the prime minister wrote. “Our government will be happy to support any initiative that will strengthen the academic and intellectual relationship between our two countries.”