New Delhi, Jan 13 (UNI) Outgoing US Ambassador Eric Garcetti said today that his term served in India has helped him witness and appreciate how “compelling, consequential and comprehensive” the India-US relationship has become.
In what was one of his last addresses in India before he signs off, ahead of the inauguration of the Donald Trump administration on January 20, Garcetti said that the India-US relationship is one of the greatest ties that the United States of America “has ever known”.
He said the US mission in India is the second largest in the world, and highlighted the Four Ps of the India-US relationship: “preserve peace, pursue joint prosperity, protect our planet and promote our common people”.
Focusing on the fourth P, of “promoting our common people”, the US Ambassador said it is “about the people who connect across the oceans, cultures, religions, time and geography for a common purpose—to better the life of our two nations and the world”.
Garcetti said the last two years, during his term, “have seen record trade, record visitors, record defence exercises and military contracts, record students, record cooperation in space, and record investments”.
He said that India and the US should expand the people connect through education, travel, cultures.
He termed education as the cornerstone of the bilateral ties, and added that USAID has partnered India to strengthen state and national education, helping improve teacher training, access to education for girls, and for physically challenged students, and helped make a difference to nine million students.
Garcetti said that since he became ambassador in March 2023 India has become the number one source of higher education students to the US. The number has seen 23 percent exponential growth last year alone, and one in four students in American universities is Indian.
He also said that 550 Indian students are contributing their expertise in groundbreaking research at the US National Institutes of Health, which is the highest number of foreign biomedical students in the US working with the NIH.
Thirteen percent of research publications, and 11 percent NIH grants – by the Indians – are now helping save lives, he added.
Stating that it is not a one way street, the US Ambassador recalled that he came to India as a high school student and studied Hindi and Urdu, and similarly today there are many American students coming to India for studies. “We have tripled the number of American students studying in India,” Garcetti added.
Touching on the cultural collaboration, he said that the signing of the Cultural Property Agreement in July last year has helped in the return of Indian artefacts, including those which were stolen or illegally traded. Since 2016, 578 priceless Indian artefacts have been returned to India, including many that were returned during the visit of PM Modi to the US last year.
He said that cricket is becoming another important people factor helping bring the two nations closer.
On issuance of Visas, he described it as the one thing for which Indians contact the US mission the most.
He said that the US missions have worked to streamline the process and improve visa issuance.
Garcetti said that since he became ambassador they have increased issuance by more than 60 percent, and eliminated wait times for most visa types.
The US missions in India together issued more than one million non-immigrant visas for the second year running, he said.
Garcetti said the four million India diaspora enrich the tapestry of the US.
