The Ministry of Ayush developed a central sector scheme for the Promotion of International Cooperation for AYUSH. The objectives of the scheme are to promote and strengthen awareness and interest about AYUSH Systems of Medicine at the international level, to facilitate international promotion, development, and recognition of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homoeopathy, to foster interaction of stakeholders and market development of AYUSH at the international level, to support international exchange of experts and information for the promotion and propagation of AYUSH systems, to give a boost to AYUSH products/services/education/research/training globally, and to promote academics and research through the establishment of AYUSH Academic Chairs in foreign countries.

Under this scheme, the Ministry provides support to Indian AYUSH drug manufacturers/AYUSH service providers to give a boost to the export of AYUSH products and services; facilitates the international promotion, development, and recognition of AYUSH systems of medicine; fosters interaction of stakeholders and market development of AYUSH at the international level; promotes academics and research through the establishment of AYUSH Academic Chairs in foreign countries and holding training workshops/symposia for promoting and strengthening awareness and interest about AYUSH Systems of Medicine at the international level.

The Ministry of Ayush has taken the initiative for the inclusion of the ‘Traditional Medicine’ chapter in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10 and 11); supporting scientific research; AYUSH Export Promotion Council (AYUSHEXCIL); WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine; celebration of Yoga and Ayurveda day worldwide, etc.

In addition, the Ministry of Ayush has taken the following steps towards the international promotion, development, and recognition of AYUSH systems of medicine:

• Signed 24 Country-to-Country MoUs for cooperation in the field of Traditional Medicine and Homoeopathy with foreign nations.
• Signed 15 MoUs with international institutes for setting up AYUSH Academic Chairs in foreign nations.
• Regularly signs institute-level MoUs with foreign institutes for undertaking collaborative research/academic collaboration.
• Supported the establishment of 42 AYUSH Information Cells in 38 foreign nations.
• Offers scholarships to foreign nationals for studying AYUSH courses in recognized AYUSH institutions in India under the International AYUSH Fellowship/Scholarship Program.

The Ministry of Ayush has functional academic AYUSH chairs in Bangladesh, Australia, Mauritius, Latvia, and Malaysia. The initiative of AYUSH chairs at foreign institutes is part of India's broader efforts to promote AYUSH systems of medicine internationally. Establishing AYUSH Chairs in foreign universities is a key strategy for fostering international collaboration, research, and promoting AYUSH's benefits. The Chairs usually aim to advance academic exchange, research, and public awareness of AYUSH, contributing to its recognition and acceptance in the host country.

The establishment of an AYUSH Chair results either from bilateral efforts or the willingness of a foreign institution to host the AYUSH Chair. A Chair MoU is then signed between the foreign university and an institute under the Ministry of Ayush. Subsequently, an AYUSH expert with the requisite qualifications is selected. The Chair is then deputed to the foreign university. The Ministry of Ayush provides the salary and travel costs, while the host foreign university provides rent-free accommodation and local hospitality to the Chair. The chair is deputed initially for 1 year, and is extendable up to the 3rd year.

The Ministry of Ayush has entered into country-level and institute-level agreements with various foreign countries that embrace the objectives of exchanging experts and information. In this regard, the Ministry deputes experts under the scheme in various trade fairs, conferences, bilateral/multilateral meetings, technical training, and similarly other countries send their experts to meetings/events hosted in India.

This information was given by the Union Minister of State (I/C) for Ayush, Shri Prataprao Jadhav, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on 17th December, 2024.

Source/PIB & RSB