S: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 book if you really need the exercise go ahead
um and I'm honored to be here tonight as Scott Nathan's opening act I know you're
looking forward to hearing from Scott but on a on a serious note let me first begin by expressing
again the deepest condolences to the United States to the victims of the terrible train
crash in odisha just a week or so ago I had an opportunity to speak to my friend foreign
just shortly after the accident and just to convey to him
how much it had resonated here in the United States as we we saw the images
and to 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 um this could not be as I'll get into in a few moments a more critical a more vital time
for our business communities our private sectors to be working together and your leadership and
helping to make that happen is more important than ever uh to my friend Master Sandu thank
you for your remarkable work in advancing the relationship between our countries and between
our people now I know you're a relatively new counterpart in India Ambassador Eric Garcetti has
hit the ground at a full Sprint trying to catch up with you and maybe more important your teams
are working together coming up with exciting new ways to further the partnership between
our countries I 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 um
I'm not only grateful for your work here but for decades of service to your country the state
department including as charges in India during the covid pandemic I had an opportunity to make
one of my first trips in this job to India at that time and saw the remarkable work that a tool was
doing to lead our mission in 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 of covid for each of our countries
and of course last but not least thank you to the entire U.S India Business Council for all that you
do to connect our businesses to try to Foster more Innovation to expand opportunities in 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 one that will 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 center Foreign Relations Committee and
from that from that time I know the premium he's attached to the relationship between our countries
and the vision that's he that he's had for the centrality the importance of that relationship
the role that we've traveled over the last 25 years has been quite extraordinary and I think
it's a testament to the importance that we attach the relationship that it's a road that has gone
through multiple administrations Democrat and Republican we continue to move further down the
road of strengthening the partnership between our countries we saw that in the final years
of the Clinton Administration through the Bush Administration the Obama Administration the Trump
Administration and now the Biden Administration simply put we see this defining relationship
um 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 of this in the Deep bonds between our people who participate in exchange programs
stream shows like admin lakshmi's Top Chef I know there are a few folks in the audience who do that
but maybe most important here in the United States
an Indian American diaspora over four 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 quad
Partners to build a free open secure prosperous indo-pacific where people or Goods where ideas
can travel freely and rules are applied fairly I have witnessed India's constructive leadership
on these issues up close these last two and a half years and I see it in their ambitious
agenda at this year's G20 in our new I2 YouTube group with India with Israel with the UAE the
United States and in probably more than a dozen meetings that I've had with my counterpart my
colleague my friend foreign minister 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 that 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 conviction that at the heart of the Strategic relationship between our
countries our economic ties and under leadership of President Biden and Prime Minister Modi
and private sector leaders in this room tonight and Beyond it is growing stronger by the day
last year as you all know trade between our Nations reached a record 191 billion dollars
making the United States the largest trading partner for India
American companies have now invested at least 54 billion dollars in India for manufacturing
to Telecommunications in the United States Indian companies have invested over 40 billion
dollars in I.T and pharmaceuticals and more supporting 40 425 000 jobs from California to
Georgia just this February Air India announced the historic purchase of more than 200 Boeing
aircraft which will support an estimated one 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 dollar bipartisan infrastructure law
followed after that by the chips act and as well the inflation reduction act prime minister modi's
100 trillion rupee infrastructure plan all of this will make our economies more productive and more
attractive for investors and India has joined three pillars of our new indo-pacific economic
framework committing 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
also and this is so critical the Norms the standards and rules that govern them 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
we're elevating and expanding the Strategic technology partnership between governments
but also between businesses between academic institutions in both our countries
because that we believe how technology is designed how it is used should be informed by democratic
values and respect for human rights Central to all of this cooperation is diversifying and deepening
our supply chains with trusted countries while also reducing strategic dependencies my friend
and colleague Secretary of Commerce for Mondo and her counterpart Mr gayal recently established a
partnership to make our semiconductor Supply chains more resilient uh and Tamil Nadu the U.S
International Development Finance Corporation and you'll hear from Scott in a little while provided
500 million dollars to help a leading American company build a solar manufacturing facility
this project will power roughly 30 million light bulbs in homes in schools in businesses across
India it will create over a thousand 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 are building more resilient more Diversified Supply chains finally we are
investing in our people U.S and India's education systems have produced the leaders of some of our
most iconic companies from Google to Infosys to not to mention former MasterCard CEO ajibanga
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 a third of all immigrant funded startups in the United States
think about that for a minute that is extraordinarily powerful [Applause]
and maybe most significant for the future for the future of 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 of the future at Howard University
last year when foreign was visiting the two of us went 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 the climate crisis whether it's helping to build more inclusive economies
I have tremendous confidence that the rising generation of Indians the rising generation
of Americans will take the relationship between us 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
to unleash the full potential of 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 the rail state has become a hub for Indian investment
with tech companies like HCL creating 2 400 jobs Training American high schoolers for I.T careers
meanwhile charlotte-based Honeywell is employing 13 000 people from kolkat to Mumbai
making safer airplanes making energy efficient buildings Duke universities established for
presence in Bangalore strengthening academic and research exchanges between our people
commenting on this explosion of U.S India commercial activity one North
Carolina entrepreneur from Gujarat 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 it's 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 um this is really what our growing relationship is all about
and so much of it goes to the tremendous work that all of you are facilitating
talked about we couldn't imagine this 15 years ago what 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 it will bring to Indians and Americans alike thank you for all you're doing
to make this real to make this vibrant to make this exciting for both of our
countries you're 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're doing thank you everyone
thank you
thank you very much [Applause]