At the 8th UK-India Science and Innovation Council in New Delhi on 12 October 2026, UK Secretary of State Jonathan Reynolds and Indian Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh announced new science and innovation partnerships covering technology, research and AI cooperation. The two agreed the Council would be elevated to match what the statement called increased ambition.

The statement said UK Research and Innovation and the Government of India have jointly invested more than £450 million since 2008, supporting over 290 projects and 1,665 publications, with joint publications up 238% since 2013 and cited 120% above the global average. Ministers launched a UK-India Technology Translation Partnership and the InnoXchange Programme, and said they would explore ties between Russell Group universities and India's Technology Innovation Hubs and with the Anusandhan National Research Foundation. India's Department of Science and Technology would invest a further £3 million over five years in the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source partnership, the statement said.

On emerging technology, the ministers welcomed progress under the Technology Security Initiative, including a Genomic Centre of Excellence between Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) India Pvt. Ltd and India's Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, and a UK-India Biomanufacturing Partnership. They also agreed to partner on carbon capture, utilisation and storage, grid resilience, and energy storage and advanced battery technologies. The Council tasked officials to take the initiatives forward ahead of the next meeting.