NEW DELHI: Fields medallist Manjul Bhargava will be the face and facilitator of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet education project to rope in eminent scholars and scientists abroad to teach students at IITs and central universities.Bhargava, who is the first person of Indian origin to win the coveted international prize for his work in mathematics, met HRD Minister Smriti Irani last Thursday and agreed to ‘recruit’ scientists in the US and across the world to participate in the Global Initiative of Academic network (GIAN), a shortterm teaching programme under which scholars abroad will be invited to teach in India.“I travel between India and US a lot and I’m familiar with scientists who are passionate about education. My role would be to recruit them and tell them about this wonderful programme. I think the government felt that I am in a unique position to set up these matches,” Bhargava told ET.“They (HRD Ministry) did say that they wanted to use me as the face of this initiative, which I found embarrassing but if it helps the initiative and country then I relent. I’m just here to help,” he added. Bhargava, who is a professor at Princeton University, said the he will also teach at IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay as part of the initiative.The mathematician did not name the scientists he would approach for GIAN, but told ET that he wanted to invite other Fields medallists and members of the Mathematical Association of America who have “dedicated their lives to exciting students about mathematics and have a top record of producing mathematicians as students”.“I would want to start (GIAN) by this summer and I would want to start this with a bang and bring some really top scientists to India and get people really excited about it,” he said.GIAN is Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s brainchild and he had discussed the initiative with US President Barack Obama during his visit to America last October. The project is expected to figure once again on the Indian agenda when Obama arrives here this weekend.