The University of Illinois plans to open an office in India by the end of next summer to help handle the university's partnerships with Indian institutions and companies.

Pradeep Khanna is the university's associate chancellor for corporate and international relations. According to reports, he says the university has strong ties to India and wants to strengthen them.

The university has just over 1,000 Indian students at its campus in Urbana-Champaign. Only China and South Korea send more students. The University of Illinois also has existing partnerships with the College of Engineering in Pune and companies such as Infosys Technologies that do business in the country.

Khanna said the office will start with one employee. It is expected to open by the start of the 2015-16 school year.