I have to say I've never really gotten used to the standing up. Thank you everyone, Please, thank you. Thank you very much. Please take a seat. I have to say I've never really gotten used to people standing up. When I enter a room, I always say, "Look, if you really need the exercise, go ahead."

I'm honoured to be here tonight as Scott Nathan's opening act. I know you're looking forward to hearing from Scott. But on a serious note, let me first begin by expressing again, the deepest condolences of the United States of the victims of the terrible train crash in Odisha just a week or so ago. I had the opportunity to speak to my friend S Jaishankar, shortly after the accident, just to convey to him how much have it had resonate here in United States as we saw the images and let him know that we stand with the people of India as they recover from this human tragedy.

Ed, thank you for your incredibly generous words, overly generous words. But especially for your leadership. This could not and I'll get into in a few moments, a more critical or more vital time for our business communities, our private sectors working together and your leadership to helping make that happen. is important than ever.

To to my friend, ambassador Sandhu, thank you for your remarkable work in advancing the relationship between our countries and between our people. Now, I know you're relatively new counterpart in India Eric Garcetti has hit the ground and a full sprint trying to catch up with you. And maybe more important, your teams are working together and coming up with exciting new ways to further the partnership between our countries. We couldn't be more pleased that both India and the United States have remarkable representatives in each other's countries at this time.

And to my colleague and friend asking you shot not only grateful for your work, but decades of service to your country at the State Department, including in Sharjah and India.

During the COVID pandemic, I had an opportunity to take one of my first trips in this job to India at that time, and saw the remarkable work that it was doing in our mission, a very challenging moment, but also to see in that moment, the truly extraordinary partnership between India and the United States as we came to each other's assistance during some of the more challenging moments.

And of course, last but not least, thank you to the entire US India Business Council for all that you do to connect our businesses, to try to foster innovation opportunities, for both of our countries.

So we are here, almost literally on the eve of what we believe will be a historic state visit by Prime Minister Modi won that further solidify what President Biden has called the defining relationship of the 21st century. Now this is not something that the President came to yesterday, I've had the immense privilege and pleasure of working for the president for more than 20 years, going back to his time as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and from that, from that time,

I know the premium is attached the relationship between our countries and the vision that he that he set for the centrality, the importance of that relationship. The road that we've travelled over the last 25 years has been quite extraordinary. And I think it's a testament to the importance that we attach to the relationship that it's a road that has gone through multiple administrations, Democrat and Republican. We will continue to move further down the road of strengthening the partnership between their countries.

We saw that in the final years of the fifth administration, through the Bush administration, the Obama administration, the Trump administration and now the Biden administration. Simply what we are see is a defining relationship as a unique connection between the world's oldest and largest democracies, with a special obligation now to demonstrate that our governments can deliver for and empower all of our citizens.

We see all this in the deep bonds between our people who participate in exchange programmes, stream shows like Top Chef, I know there are a few folks in the audience who do that but maybe most important in the United States and Indian American diaspora over 40 million strong and growing stronger every day.

We see the importance of the partnership in a shared commitment to address regional and global challenges promoting health security, working with our partners to build a free open and secure prosperous Indo Pacific, where people or goods for ideas can travel freely, and rules are applied fairly.

I have witnessed in the US constructive leadership on these issues up close these last two and a half years and I see it in their ambitious agenda. This used to be 20. In our new ITIL YouTube group within the Israel, the UAE, United States, and probably more than a dozen meetings that I've had with my counterpart my colleague, my friend, S Jaishankar, I've had the opportunity now to make several trips to India in this job, including one in March where I actually took an auto rickshaw ride there probably gave my security detail, a little bit of concern. But we made it through.

But the reason this evening is so important is our is our conviction that at the heart of the strategic relationship between our countries, our economic ties, and under the leadership of President Biden, Prime Minister Modi and private sector leaders in this room tonight and beyond, is growing stronger by the day.

Last year as you all know, trade between our nations reached a record $191 billion. Making the United States the largest trading partner for India. The American companies now invested at least $54 billion in India, from manufacturing to telecommunications. In the United States, Indian companies have invested over $40 billion in IT and pharmaceuticals and more supporting 425,000 jobs from California to Georgia.

Just this February, Air India announced the historic purchase of more than 200 Boeing aircraft which support an estimated 1 million plus jobs across 44 of the United States. Both the US and India are making transformative investments in our own countries to build our own strength.

President Biden's $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, followed after that by the chips act, and as well as the inflation Reduction Act. Prime Minister Modi's Rs 100 trillion infrastructure plan. All of this will make our economies more productive and more attractive for investors.

And then the strong three pillars are our new Indo-Pacific economic framework, meaning to build more resilient supply chains to seize clean energy opportunities, and to combat corruption and other challenges that undermine the efforts of our governments. Together, we're helping to shape the innovations of the future, but not just the innovations themselves but also, iand so critical, the norms the standards and rules that govern from artificial intelligence to quantum computing.

In January, this council co-hosted a roundtable where our two governments inaugurated a new initiative on critical and emerging technologies. where elevating and expanding use technology partnership between governments, but also businesses between academic institutions in both our countries. Because we believe how technology is designed, how it is used to be informed by democratic values and respect for human rights.

Central to all of this cooperation is diversifying and deepening our supply chains progressive countries, also reducing strategic dependencies.

Recently established a partnership to make our semiconductor supply chains more resilient in Tamil Nadu. The US International Development Finance Corporation, and you'll hear from Scott in a little while, provided $500 million to help a leading American company build a solar manufacturing facility. This project will power roughly 30 million light bulbs in homes and schools and businesses across India. It will create over 1000 jobs for Indians Americans, and maybe most significantly, it will shift a key component of our clean energy supply chains to a close partner. That's what we mean when we say we're building more resilient, more diversified supply chains.

Finally, we are investing in our people using India's education systems to produce leaders, our most iconic companies, Google, Infosys, and to not to mention Ajay Banga, former MasterCard, CEO, who is now of course the new president of the World Bank. And one time president of the USIBC.

Indian Americans have created a third of all immigrant funded startups in the United States. Think about that for a minute. That is extraordinarily powerful.

And maybe most significant for the future ties between our countries. We have more than 200,000 Indians studying in American universities, making India the second largest source of international students in the United States. And we want to continue encouraging that remarkable dynamism this is how you build the bridges the future. Harvard University last year when foreign ministers S Jaishankar was visiting, the two of us were there together, and we announced an education skills development working group to try to address skills gaps to promote vocational training to spur entrepreneurship in our countries.

Whether it's investing and inventing new technologies, whether it's combating climate crisis, whether it's helping to build more inclusive economies have tremendous confidence that the rising generation Indians, the rising generation of Americans will take the relationship to new heights. And in doing that, they will not only benefit our countries, they will benefit the entire world.

Now, we know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries. We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access to strengthen our democracies unleash the full potential for our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable and it is filled with promise. It's being written in places like North Carolina where our growing engagement is benefiting both our countries. Our state has become a hub for Indian investment. Tech companies like HCL creating 2400 jobs, training American high schoolers for it careers. Meanwhile, Charlotte-based Honeywell is employing 13,000 people from Kolkata to Mumbai to make you safer aeroplanes, making energy efficient buildings.

Duke University's established presence in Bangaloreis strengthening academic and research exchanges between our people. Commenting on this explosion of US-Indian commercial activity., one North Carolina entrepreneur recruiter observed and I quote, "this could not have happened 15 years ago." And that's an important comment, because it puts a fine point on the fact that the evolution in this relationship just over the past couple of decades has been extraordinary. And in the day in day out, it's easy sometimes to lose sight of that is also why a moment like this evening and a moment like next week is so important. It's an opportunity to put where we are, where we've come from, and where we're going in perspective.

And so I couldn't be more pleased to actually kick off tonight. The upcoming state visit with all of you this is really what our growing relationship is all about. And so much of it goes to the tremendous work that all of you talked about. You can imagine this 15 years ago, but I'm now trying to imagine and what I know you're all working on not only imagining but bringing to life is what this is going to look like 15 years from now, or 50 years from now. And all the benefits that will bring Indian and American lives.

Thank you for all you're doing to make this real, make this vibrant. To make this exciting for both of our countries. You are at the heart of one of the most extraordinary relationships in the world. I can't thank you enough for all the work that you do. Thank you

First Published:Jun 13, 2023 6:56 AM IST