Hyderabad: US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti recently completed one year of his diplomatic service in India. Garcetti, who is known for his love for India and Indian culture, took to social media to celebrate the anniversary in style. In a video released on the occasion, the US ambassador talked about the deepening ties between the US and India.
In an exclusive interview with Eenadu-ETV Bharat's IR Srinivas Rao, Garcetti talked in length about his experience as the US ambassador in India during the past one year. Here are a few excerpts from the interview.
ETV Bharat (ETVB): Mr. Ambassador, congratulations on completion of successful one year of your tenure in India. You have known the Indian culture pretty well since a long back. How satisfied are you?
Eric Garcetti (EG): I’m extremely satisfied. This year has been historic for the relationship between the two countries, and India has captured my heart for the rest of my life.
It’s difficult to overstate the achievements we’ve made together. The partnership between the United States and India is deeper and more expansive now than it’s ever been, and we’re working together on world-shaping initiatives that extend from the depths of the seabed to the furthest reaches of the stars.
We’ve seen this play out in so many ways: the Prime Minister’s momentous official state visit to the White House; our leaders’ subsequent engagement at the G20 Leader’s Summit in New Delhi. A game-changing initiative to co-produce jet engines; a trade relationship of more than 190 billion U.S. dollars; and more Indian students coming to study in the United States than ever before.
What this does is give us a new foundation to build from, to launch our partnership even higher in the coming year. As the U.S. Ambassador, I’m excited for what we’ve done, but I’m even more excited for what we can achieve as we move forward together.
ETVB : How do you see the current state of US-India relations, and what are your priorities for further strengthening these ties?
EG: The U.S.-India relationship is one of the most consequential in the entire world. We fully support India’s emergence as a leading global power and a vital partner in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific that is connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient. Our countries work together on the full range of priorities – increasing our prosperity, protecting our people, and addressing the most pressing global issues, like climate change.
One of the things that has been the most satisfying for me over the past year has been seeing the way that our friendship has deepened as we’ve worked together. Like any friends, we don’t always agree on every issue. But on both sides now there’s a clear understanding that the things that unite us – our shared dream, and the shared aspirations of our people – are much stronger than the things that divide us. When the United States and India work together, our relationship becomes multiplicative – it’s not the United States plus India, it’s the United States times India, bringing exponential benefits to our countries and the world.
ETVB: How do you envision collaboration between the US and India in addressing shared challenges such as climate change, and security and free trade in Indo-Pacific region?
EG: India is a crucial partner and is vital to promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Our countries share a vision of an Indo-Pacific that remains free and open, and becomes more connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient. The United States and India work together, and alongside our Quad partners Japan and Australia, to advance a wide range of issues in support of that vision – from humanitarian assistance to vaccine production to building climate resilient infrastructure and setting effective ground rules for emerging technology.
We’re working together on an impressive list of initiatives to move our countries’ partnership forward. These include: strengthening supply chains for semiconductors and other critical advanced technology; co-producing advanced defense components and systems; deepening our longstanding cooperation in space by providing NASA training for Indian astronauts and launching joint satellites to observe the farthest reaches of the cosmos and expanding research partnerships between our universities, to identify tomorrow’s solutions in agriculture, energy, health, and technology.
ETVB: With growing geopolitical challenges in the Indo-Pacific, what role do you see India playing in advancing security objectives, including maritime security and counter terrorism efforts?
EG: Both the United States and India have suffered from terrorism, and we have a common interest in preventing terrorism across the globe. The United States has partnered with India to support civilian law enforcement, counter terrorism, maritime and border security, rule of law, and counter narcotics efforts.
Our countries regularly convene a 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue to collaborate closely on a range of topics, including security, clean energy, and space. Forums such as iCET, INDUS-X and the Strategic Trade Dialogue have fostered increased cooperation between U.S. and Indian defense industries.
ETVB: How does the US view India's role in global supply chains, and what opportunities do you see for further economic cooperation between the two countries?
EG: The events of the past few years – from the COVID pandemic to the emergence of new conflicts around the world – have shown how fragile things can be when there are products supplied by only one country in the world. Every country benefits when we have a diverse supply chain and multiple options. As Ambassador, I want to see India become not only a great domestic market, but a manufacturing center for the region and the world. The United States already looks to India for many products – for example, 40 percent of our generic pharmaceuticals are made here. I’d love to see that relationship expand to include India-made electric vehicles, India-made solar cells, and more. Last year, we eliminated all seven pending trade disputes between our countries at the WTO. And U.S. companies are excited to explore opportunities in India. It’s such a unique country – with a size, scale of operations, and level of expertise that’s that’s very attractive. India is the fastest growing developing world economy. The United States is the fastest growing developed world economy. There’s so much natural synergy between our countries – of course our companies are taking notice.
ETVB: How do you view the potential for innovation and entrepreneurship to drive bilateral cooperation between the US and India, particularly in emerging sectors such as clean energy and healthcare?
EG: When it comes to technology, the impact of our cooperation is truly multiplicative – it’s not just the U.S. plus India, it’s the United States times India. U.S. and Indian companies are working together on clean energy technologies – including solar panels andelectric batteries – to help India reach its ambitious goal of having 500 gigawatts of installed non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. Our pharmaceutical companies are partnering to produce life-saving vaccines, including a new malaria vaccine that is already shipping out to countries around the world.
And there’s room for even more cooperation, through a groundbreaking initiative our leaders launched last year, the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (or iCET). We’re working with India across all levels – government-to-government, company-to-company, and scientist-to-scientist, to develop technology that will transform the coming century. We’re not just helping our peoples, we’re a transforming the world.
ETVB: People of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are facing biggest challenge of visa appointment. A huge consulate building is built with 54 windows, but why are they all not operational yet? Is it true that Government of India is reluctant in issuing visas for American officers?
EG: We’ve seen a lot of change in the past two years on visa processing. The U.S. Mission in India has reduced wait times to practically zero in all visa categories except one – first-time applicants for B1/B2 business and tourism visas – and there we’ve brought the wait time down by more than 75 percent. This represents a heroic effort from a lot of dedicated public servants who worked weekends and made other special arrangements to make sure that Indian students could get to the United States and start their classes in time, workers could contribute to our mutual prosperity, and crews could move people and goods between our countries.
Of course, we recognize that there’s still huge and growing demand in India for a U.S. visa, so we’re redoubling our efforts to keep the wait times as low as possible. Staffing is a big part of that story. We have adjudicators working remotely from overseas to assist with India’s visa volume, and we continue to coordinate with Department and Indian stakeholders to ensure that Mission India has the personnel needed to get the job done.
ETVB: Finally, what message do you have for the people of India regarding the future of US-India relations and the importance of our partnership on the global stage?
EG: One of the things that has been the most satisfying for me over the past year has been seeing the way that our friendship has deepened as we’ve worked together. On both sides now there’s a clear understanding that the things that unite us – our shared dream, and the shared aspirations of our people – are much stronger than the things that divide us. When the United States and India work together, our relationship becomes multiplicative – it’s not the United States plus India, it’s the United States times India, bringing exponential benefits to our countries and the world.
