Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy said the Joe Biden presidency will bring world closer in a new era following four years of friction under US President Donald Trump, and said there will be more collaboration to addressing the issues challenging the world, such as the pandemic and climate change.

Speaking virtually on the occasion of the Infosys Science Foundation’s annual awards on Wednesday, and addressing a question on the impact of geopolitics on addressing the pandemic, Murthy said, "In one country, there was friction for last four years, but there is going to be a new era now, and the world will become much closer starting January 21, 2021."

Biden will take oath as the 46th US President on January 20, 2021.

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"I am positive that the issue of geopolitics will not hinder collaboration between experts to solve global problems such as climate change, the pandemic, water availability, etc," Murthy said.

"Even though nationalism may have become stronger in some countries in the last four-five years, I do believe that there will be progress in science and technology to solve global problems," he added.

The Infosys co-founder also added that while India’s growth rate has slowed, citizens were working to push the economy.

"A few years ago, we wouldn’t have been happy with even 7-8 percent growth rate. 20 years ago, we were happy with 2-3 percent growth rate. We have now become used to 5-6 percent growth rate. Therefore, automatically our citizens will work towards exceeding that. I am optimistic economy will move forward in tandem with global economy," Murthy said.

The Infosys Science Foundation awarded the winners of the Infosys Prize 2020 on Wednesday for their contributions to science and research, in a virtual awards ceremony. The prize is awarded for contributions in six fields: engineering and computer science, humanities, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physical sciences and social sciences.

The winners for the Infosys Prize 2020 were : Prof. Hari Balakrishnan in engineering and computer science, Dr. Prachi Deshpande in humanities, D. Rajan Sankaranarayanan in life sciences, Prof. Sourav Chatterjee in mathematical sciences, Prof. Arindam Ghosh in physical sciences, and Prof Raj Chetty in social sciences.

(Edited by : Jomy)