United States and India: A joint vision for the Indo-Pacific | H NOFO 20 100

Opportunity Information: Apply for H NOFO 20 100

The grant opportunity "United States and India: A joint vision for the Indo-Pacific" (Funding Opportunity Number H NOFO 20 100) is a U.S. Department of State program administered by the U.S. Mission to India. It was released on March 10, 2020 and originally closed on May 9, 2020. The program is offered as a discretionary cooperative agreement, meaning recipients should expect active involvement and coordination with the U.S. government during planning, implementation, and reporting. The activity is categorized under Education (CFDA 19.040), which in practice often includes exchanges, convenings, public diplomacy, and related outreach that supports learning, dialogue, and informed public discussion.

At its core, the opportunity is designed to strengthen practical, working-level relationships among Indo-Pacific partner countries by spotlighting and reinforcing U.S.-India engagement in the region. A key feature is the emphasis on leveraging post-conference interviews with important participants and using concrete, specific examples to show how collaboration is happening and why it matters. Rather than being purely a one-time event, the project concept is geared toward extending the life and influence of convenings or discussions through structured follow-up interviews, stories, and media products that demonstrate outcomes, commitments, and real-world cooperation among partners.

A major objective is securing broad and sustained media coverage in both local and international outlets, across print and electronic media. The opportunity explicitly emphasizes that regional-language media coverage is particularly important, signaling a priority on reaching audiences beyond English-language national or elite media circles. Applicants would likely need to demonstrate credible plans and capacity for communications work such as media partnerships, press engagement, content production, interviews, distribution strategies, and potentially placements or syndication across multiple platforms. The intended result is to increase visibility of U.S.-India cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and highlight how the U.S. and India work with other countries in the region, not only bilaterally but also through broader partnerships.

Beyond visibility, the program has a public diplomacy goal: building favorable opinion of U.S. foreign policy engagements and the shared goals the U.S. pursues with partners in the Indo-Pacific. In practical terms, that means applicants should be prepared to communicate policy-relevant themes in an accessible way, showing alignment on issues that resonate regionally (for example, cooperative approaches to regional stability, economic connectivity, maritime cooperation, disaster response, technology, education, or other shared priorities depending on the project design). The focus on interviews and specific examples suggests a preference for credible messengers and grounded storytelling, using first-hand perspectives from stakeholders rather than abstract messaging.

Funding is relatively small and competitive. The award ceiling is $55,000, and the agency anticipated up to 10 awards, indicating multiple projects may be supported with modest budgets. Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in that nonprofit category). A strong application would typically need to show both subject-matter understanding of Indo-Pacific cooperation and proven ability to execute media and outreach components, particularly in regional languages, while coordinating closely with the U.S. Mission to India under the cooperative agreement structure.

• The Department of State, U.S. Mission to India in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "United States and India: A joint vision for the Indo-Pacific" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 10, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 09, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $55,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for H NOFO 20 100

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