Speeches and Remarks

"The Indo-U.S. Forum -- Stepping Back into the Future"

Remarks by Ambassador David C. Mulford at the meeting of the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum

New Delhi
03 December 2004

As prepared for delivery

Minister Sibal, members of the Governing Board of the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to be with you here today at the inauguration of the new home of the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum. It is fitting that this event is taking place here at Fulbright House, the home of USEFI, the United States Educational Foundation in India.

With record numbers of Indians studying in the United States education is one of the leading people-to-people ties fueling the robust and growing relationship between our two countries. Mr. Minister, we are particularly pleased and honored to have you with us, not only for the energy you have brought to your Ministry but for all that you have done in the past as head of the Indo-U.S. Parliamentary Forum and other endeavors to strengthen the US-India partnership.

U.S.-India relations are running at an all-time high. When President Bush and Prime Minister Singh met in New York in September, they acknowledged this, and went a step further by saying "The best is yet to come!" This is a remarkable assessment for a relationship, which a few short years ago, was plagued with national sensitivities and punitive sanctions. For decades India and the U.S. have recognized many shared values. Now for the first time, we are working together on the basis of not only shared values, but also shared interests. In his letter congratulating President Bush on his reelection, the Prime Minister observed that "the U.S. and India must embark on a larger and a more ambitious agenda for broader strategic cooperation." We here at the U.S. Mission have this as our top priority.

Since arriving in India as Ambassador, I have spoken of the need to expand the U.S.-India relationship from a strategic to a comprehensive relationship. Modern history among democratic nations shows that it is the people and ideas, more than government or politicians, that set the general tone and direction of key alliances.

While governments can make the rules and influence the climates in which relationships prosper, they are not the creators of wealth, the makers of markets, or the wellspring of human energy and creativity. These flow from the productive forces of individuals, which to my way of thinking governments should encourage in their citizens and make a special effort to promote.

Tonight we celebrate just such an endeavor. After years of mutual effort, we gather here because our two governments have agreed to support the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum. This is a center of creative energy where the vision and ideas of individuals can flourish. It is deeply satisfying to see the Forum offices open for business.

This is especially so because we now see that the U.S. and India are more committed than ever before to creating the institutional framework that encourages, indeed promotes, the power and genius of our nations' scientists. We already share, as two great nations, an abiding interest and faith in science and technology. We are natural partners here and together can create opportunities beyond our present imaginations for growth, prosperity and a better life for all our peoples.

The United States and India account for approximately one-fifth of the world's population, and nearly a third of global GNP. We both recognize that globalization is softening national boundaries, and producing new networks of cooperation among nations and their economies.

Already flagship American companies such as General Electric, Intel and more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies, with long and illustrious histories of research and development are engaged in these critical activities in India. It is a tribute to India and its people that these companies are investing in and benefiting from India's scientific and technological expertise and its human resources. This partnership will grow and grow in coming years.

From its earliest days, America has specialized in providing opportunity to intelligent and enterprising people. Providing opportunity in India will produce a similar result. This forum is custom designed to provide these opportunities, and we want to be partners in promoting them.

As I mentioned earlier, we have more students from India in the United States than from any other country. Figures just released by the Institute of International Education, tell us there are now about 80,000 Indians studying in the U.S., an increase of almost 7% over last year. I am immensely proud of this fact, and firmly believe there is no better way to build a future of people-to-people engagement than by encouraging young Indians to study in the United States, and Americans to study in India.

We have made it very clear that we want students from India and from throughout the world to take advantage of the exceptional educational opportunities in the United States. We are open for business in top quality education. This includes universities of all descriptions and types, from small town colleges to large urban campuses, from small two- and four-year colleges, and women's colleges, to large research institutes and universities. The selection is diverse, but U.S. universities and colleges share many common attributes -- flexibility, individual attention to students and collaboration between students and professors, hands-on learning and access to the best facilities in the world. And, because we are an open and welcoming society, International students who enroll in a U.S. educational institution also have the opportunity of participating in American life.

The Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum, by catalyzing the U.S.- India relationship, is tapping the talents of individual scientists and professional societies in the U.S. as well as in India to promote collaborations which range from exploration of the brain to exploration of outer space. These collaborations illustrate the breadth of our vision and what U.S. and Indian scientific minds can accomplish together.

In June, I traveled to Bangalore to attend the Indo-U.S. Conference on Space, Science, Applications and Commerce. The conference was an excellent example of how the business sector, NGOs and governments can join together to advance the common cause of bilateral science and technology cooperation. Over 400 Indian and American scientists developed an agenda for bilateral cooperation that will keep us busy for years to come.

The Indo-U.S. Forum also shows the significance that our governments place on public-private partnerships. America is a land not only of research, but also of commercially successful applications. This is the true secret of U.S. economic success. I hope, as this cooperation grows deeper that it will lead to the same open, and practical commercial application that brings success, self-respect and prosperity to ordinary people.

For that reason, I am glad to see that Kiran Karnik, the original manager and coordinator of the Satellite Instruction Test Experiment, and NASSCOM's dynamic leader, is now a member of the Governing Board of the Indo-U.S. Forum. SITE demonstrated the potential that civilian space applications had for India's development and set India on the course to become a major player in global space ventures. SITE and this Forum have roots in the same spirit of scientific cooperation.

It is also symbolic that both governments have entrusted the Forum to a bi-national Governing Body, which held its deliberations just a few minutes ago. The U.S. and Indian members of the Governing Body belong to the Governments as well as the private sectors of our two nations. They, together with Dr. Arabinda Mitra, the new Executive Director, face an exhilarating challenge: to look deeply into this vast field of future U.S.- India science and technology cooperation and to develop investment strategies that will sustain growth and lead us into new and rewarding enterprises.

While I have not led a science and technology enterprise, I have had some professional experience in the investment banking business. In the investment banking business we try to discover and finance the ideas and people who are willing to undertake the risks of innovation. It rewards those who succeed, and usually these are people with as yet unexpressed visions of the future. I imagine that the same applies in leading a science research enterprise.

There will no doubt be some safe Forum activities, which will make inroads into solving some important science or technology challenge. There will be others, however, far more difficult to find and challenging to assess that could deliver extraordinary returns. And, of course, there will be failures, hopefully not too expensive failures. Developing energy security, creating new materials with desirable properties, finding new tools to prevent, as well as to fight disease, engineering new crops that produce higher yields with lesser inputs, or finding better ways to unleash the power that is already present in the now ubiquitous personal computers, will all require thorough assessments of risks and rewards associated with Forum investments. With this approach, I am sure that in the long term successes will win the day and carry us forward.

With the selection of the new Executive Director, the Governing Board will be more important than ever, as its members will set the scientific temper of the enterprise and provide sound advice about the risks the enterprise should take. I do want to encourage you to take risks, to venture into unexplored areas. Our governments have now stepped back so the Forum can move forward. They have entrusted the Governing Board and Dr. Mitra with resources to march into the future. I urge you to make the best of them.

Good luck and thank you.