Speeches and Remarks

American Center Director
Elizabeth Kauffman Remarks at the Seminar
on U.S.-Indo Relations in a Globalized World
Fulbright Alumni Association (FAA)
Mumbai Chapter at VPM’s Centre
for International Studies, Mulund

Mumbai, Friday, February 29, 2008
10:00 a.m.

Indo-US Relations in the 21st Century

Thank you, Dr. Kamath and Dr. Schukoske, for inviting me to join you today. 
The topic you have chosen for today’s seminar is indeed a very broad one.  U.S.-India relations today affect millions and millions of people in both our countries.   In our everyday lives, we enjoy goods, services, capital, and information from each others’ countries.  Our relationship affects the jobs our children aspire to and the opportunities before them.  It affects the foods we eat, the energy prospects ahead, the films we watch, the medicines we take, the airplanes we board, and the subjects that students in both our countries will choose as they plan careers that will span the globe.   

Your discussion today relates to India and the United States, but not only to just our two countries.  As India nears national elections, and the United States ramps up its presidential race, as Pakistan forms a government elected by the people, as Nepal and Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Canada and Mexico and Cuba, chart out their next steps, the U.S. and India offer evidence to our neighbors of what two democracies can accomplish together when they pursue common goals in a spirit of mutual respect. 

As you discuss the complex and promising growth in U.S.-India Relations, I would urge you to keep in mind these three key considerations: 

Leadership, Critical Thinking, and Communication.

Leadership:

In the United States, you have probably gathered from the media that citizens are taking to the polls this year in record numbers.  Americans perceive the stakes in their government’s leadership.  They understand that in a democracy, success depends on every citizen taking responsibility for the governance of their country. 

They understand, too, that decisions of governments around the world affect them directly.  Leadership--of governments, of businesses, of academic institutions, of citizen groups--has never been more important than now.  Our futures rest on good decisions.  I hope we will see record turnout in November.

I have been told that in India, the educated avoid public office, and that the illiterate turn out in far greater numbers to vote than their diploma-holding peers.   What can you do about that, in your roles as educators, authors, and commentators?  The next generation needs coaching and encouragement, and helping them find ways to use their education in the service of their democracy may be one of the most important roles you play.   Young people look for meaning in their lives, beyond a secure livelihood.  Help them find ways to serve their country. 

Critical Thinking:

In Mumbai, the American Center just concluded its week-long celebration of Black History Month with a series of dramatic presentations, poetry readings, films, photographs, and music that recalled the contributions African Americans have made in our country.   Far beyond the gift of jazz music and sports achievements, African Americans have taught our country about leadership. 

Leaders like Martin Luther King challenged Americans to look at their assumptions and to compare them with the truth.  He asked Americans to destroy the barriers that keep us from understanding each other.  He died trying, but he succeeded. 

Students and researchers in the 21st century have more information at their fingertips than the inventors of the printing press could ever have imagined.  But information is not understanding.  You have learned that first-hand, as exchange visitors.  While not everyone can participate in a Fulbright exchange program, we need to challenge everyone in our societies to question their assumptions and to open themselves to others’ points of view. 

In the United States, our Congress has increased funding for Americans to learn languages that will help them to better understand others.  Hindi, Gujarati, and Urdu are among those languages.  Americans recognize that their knowledge of the rest of the world must grow if we are to succeed in a global economy. 

As you pursue your research and interpret what is happening in the United States to Indians, or what is happening in India to Americans, your role in helping your listeners overcome their assumptions and to form their opinions on the basis of experience, not prejudice, matters immensely. 

Communication:

Leadership and critical thinking matter a lot, but they will only succeed when coupled with communication.  Those of you in my generation may begin to feel the usual generation gap that people our age complain about.  As You Tube replaces network news, Blogs replace established journals, and SMS messages replace hand-written letters, younger people are forging new ways to exchange ideas. 

I challenge you to think about how you can use the insights you have developed over years of serious study and exchange to make a difference in the modern communication environment.  How can your discoveries reach those whose understanding is critical to the future of India, of the United States, and of the dream we share of equality, mutual respect, and prosperity for all the world’s citizens?  Academic papers reach a small group.  What avenues might you pursue to reach the larger group, those whose numbers and opinions will shape the future?

With those three challenges in mind, let me say just a few words about the U.S.-India relationship.   What I find exciting about the dialogue between India and the U.S., particularly here in western and central India, is the symbiotic overlapping of our challenges and opportunities.   Together, we are increasingly viewing our relationship as more of an opportunity for win-win cooperation.  In our country, the change since 2004 is noticeable, in campaign speeches, in the recognition that the benefits of international cooperation outweigh the costs. 

In my nearly three years in Mumbai, the statistics about our relationship speak volumes. 

You know, of course, that Indian student numbers in the United States have soared to top place, at 83,000 some, and we struggle to keep up with the growing demand for visas at our Consulate.  Rising numbers of Americans come to India to study, to undertake internships, to do research or teach with Indian counterparts.   That is a very healthy trend, and perhaps THE most important aspect of our relationship.

You have heard, too, of the soaring bilateral trade and investment figures.  In 2007, total bilateral trade in goods is estimated to have reached $41 billion by December 2007, an increase over the 2006 bilateral trade figure of $32 billion.  Bilateral services trade totaled over $10 billion.  In 2008, total combined trade in goods and services could well surpass $50 billion.  This puts us well on the way to achieving the goal -- endorsed last year by President Bush and Prime Minister Singh -- of doubling bilateral trade in three years.  

Besides trade, foreign investment in both directions creates high-quality jobs, spurs healthy competition, and leads to greater innovation by companies in both our countries. 

The United States considers India’s prosperity an important factor in not just regional stability but in the health of the global community.  To that end, our officials, business leaders, and economists take an active interest in India’s economic progress, and we hope we can play a constructive role in the related goals of physical, financial, and human resource infrastructure. 

Our Secretary of the Treasury visited last October to discuss financing of large-scale infrastructure projects, key for supply chain management, moving goods and services more efficiently around the country to increase productivity.  The expansion and development of roads, rail linkages, and air connections expands opportunities to citizens well beyond port cities and current transportation hubs. 

On the financial side, we have worked closely with India’s stock market regulators as they develop strong market mechanisms that will help provide stable and effective capital markets for India’s growth.

On the human resources and education side, we see mutual benefit in vastly increasing the exchange between our higher education institutions.  Dr. Schukoske may be able to update us on the Fulbright program’s expansion, but far beyond that official program, people to people exchange is working to raise awareness, skills, and knowledge levels in both our countries. 

The Agriculture Knowledge Initiative and the research that companies such as John Deere Tractors have undertaken in India promise to raise crop yields and nutrition for India’s young population.  Joint research in public health and in medical technologies and medicines will help fight the diseases that impoverish families.   Energy research will help us grow our economies while also reducing  greenhouse gas threats.  Advances in information technology continue to enhance our capabilities in space research, communications, weather forecasting, disaster prevention, air transport, military readiness—literally innumerable areas of endeavor. 

All this growth and exchange is exciting.  We at the U.S. Consulate General are glad that we are so busy, that we are bursting at the seams, and that we are moving along in the construction of a new facility in the Bandra Kurla Complex that will ease the congestion for our 1200-some visa applicants a day.  Our government is also renovating a facility in Hyderabad that we expect to open next year.  These are simply reflections of the tremendous potential of the U.S.-India relationship and the exchange that powers it.

Finally, let me say how proud Americans are of our flagship educational exchange program, and how happy we are that the Indian government plans to join us in funding the Fulbright exchange program.  Some 14,200 students and scholars having participated in the Fulbright bilateral exchange program since 1950.  With the Indian government’s contribution, we hope to double the flow, supplemented by many new private sector initiatives.   I congratulate USEFI on your hard work.

You, the alumni, those who understand both Indian and American worlds, are an indispensable part of the future of U.S.-Indian relations.  

It is your turn to lead, to think critically, to communicate, and to bring others along with you.  Thank you, and all best wishes for a rewarding seminar.

End remarks.