Speeches & Remarks 2008
Remarks by U.S. Ambassador to India David C. Mulford
Confederation of Indian Industry
New Delhi
January 9, 2009
Good afternoon and thank you for this opportunity to meet with you today. This will be my last opportunity to speak with you as US Ambassador to India, an honor and privilege I have held these past five years. An Ambassadorship is a journey and what a journey this has been!
Part of this journey has been the wonderful people and places that my wife Jeannie and I have had a chance to visit, experiencing India's rich diversity, its impressive history and its dynamic people. Like millions of other travelers, we have been captivated by the tigers of Ranthambore and dazzled by the colors of Rajasthan, India's antiquities, and the lushness of Kerala. But the most momentous part of the journey has been on the road to a renewed relationship.
I arrived at the beginning of 2004 with a mandate from President Bush to forge a strong, strategic relationship with India that would be based on our well-established shared values and our growing common interests. President Bush and Secretary of State Rice have been faithful to the vision of this relationship and their active commitment these past five years has made the vision a reality.
This transformation in our bilateral relationship is widely understood and welcomed in both our countries. We now know our partnership will be sustained. It will deepen and will yield rich and abiding benefits as yet uncounted. I will leave India with a deep sense of pride and accomplishment.
From my first weeks here, I have spoken of a "comprehensive relationship" between the U.S. and India. I refer here to the vast civil society, private sector relationship that thrives between us, over and beyond our official bilateral ties.
Millions of our citizens pursue people to people ties in commerce, education, science, and countless other endeavors. They are the driving force that shapes our official relationship - because both Americans and Indians benefit from our shared values of freedom, democracy, diversity, entrepreneurship, education and opportunity. Indeed, this is where many of our largest accomplishments of the last five years are to be found:
1. Since 2004, the US Mission to India has expanded to become our largest civilian mission in the world. With more than 20 US government departments or agencies present at the Embassy, it is easy to grasp the breadth and diversity of our interface with India. This includes virtually every area of human endeavor from health to education, agriculture, science and military affairs.
2. Visas: We now process over 800,000 applications per year (second only to our neighbor Mexico) and the Mission issues some 60% of all H1B visas in the world. And, whereas in the summer of 2006 Indian citizens were waiting 187 days for a visa interview appointment, that waiting period was reduced by late 2006 to less than 10 days all over India and has remained consistently under 14 days these past two years.
3. I am proud of the fact that we have opened the Hyderabad consulate just two years after President Bush pledged to do so during his 2006 visit. Hyderabad will be the largest full service consulate opened by the US anywhere in the past 20 years. Once it is fully operational, its presence will save approximately 100,000 annual trips for Andhra Pradesh citizens who previously had to travel to Chennai to obtain a visa. To me, that is serving the public.
4. Our trade and investment links have scaled new heights; our 2005 Open Skies Agreement is revolutionizing air travel to America; Indian university students in America now number over 94,000; India’s decision in 2008 to co-fund and expand the 58 year old US Fulbright Program, now the Nehru-Fulbright Scholarship Program: all show our partnership in action.
And I haven't even gotten to the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement yet. If you notice that my hair is whiter than it was in 2004, it is civil nuclear wot done it!
President Bush's vision of India's membership in the global nuclear regime and Prime Minister Singh's embrace of that vision is the stuff of great nation historic enterprises. India will now diversify and improve its energy base, it will be home to a vast new industry and become a world leader in the field of civil nuclear energy.
The U.S. intends to be a major contributor to this historic enterprise, a welcome, valuable and fully competitive partner. When the vision is achieved, India will have plentiful energy to power its villages and its people's aspirations and at the same time will have contributed to the protection of the global environment.
As we look towards even more cooperation and collaboration in the future, I am reminded of Prime Minister Nehru's first visit to the U.S. in 1949. His words were truly visionary:
"What is required is a true understanding and appreciation of each other, even where we differ. Out of understanding grows fruitful cooperation in the pursuit of common ideals." I believe "understanding and appreciation" have finally been accomplished.
As we meet today in the shadow of a global economic slowdown and the fallout from the tragedy in Mumbai, fruitful cooperation is all the more vital. Both are major challenges for each of us. Yet both also offer opportunities for America and India to leverage our transformed ties - strengthened by our understanding and appreciation - in order to better meet the needs of the hour.
America too has suffered losses in Mumbai, and our economy, like yours, is experiencing a major slowdown. This is a time when friends work together - especially when combating terrorism. Terrorism is a global, cross-border menace and therefore must be fought with cooperation across borders.
Part of a strategic partnership in today's complex world - thrown into stark relief after the Mumbai attacks - is defense and security cooperation. This has been a growing area of collaboration for us these past five years, enriched by our growing mutual trust and confidence.
In defense, we in the US have taken very seriously the challenge here of enhanced defense and high tech sales, transactions that would augment our ability to work together. A visit to Aero India 2009 will demonstrate how well we can meet that need.
On counterterrorism and internal security cooperation, now more than ever, the gains from our partnership are evident. In the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, we have learned firsthand how much we both can benefit from stronger counterterrorism cooperation, including law enforcement ties. The U.S. has outstanding technology that was manifest post-Mumbai when the FBI worked closely and in a fully transparent fashion with Indian law enforcement agencies.
On the economic front, some theorized just a year ago that emerging economies had "decoupled" from the global economy. We know now in early 2009 that this is not the case. What is important to note is that through the current global downturn, with all its pain and uncertainty, India will remain one of the world's fastest growing economies.
Despite the jolt India is currently suffering, the slowdown is also revealing something of India's resilience. India can make an important contribution to the global economy as leading nations work together to restore growth, improve financing conditions and strengthen oversight of financial systems. The US values India's role and its leadership in addressing the global economic slowdown.
As Ambassador, I am often asked if India's long term growth story is intact, especially in light of the global slowdown. Credit must go where credit is due. India's cautious financial regulatory policies have helped to shield it from the worst of the 2008 financial crisis, just as they did in the Asian crisis of 1997. Meanwhile, India's recent focus on rural economic initiatives have helped support its large domestic-driven economy.
However, financial market reform and liberalization need to continue. India's steps to facilitate credit and investment flows into India not only blunt the negative global financial impact but position India to regain its impressive 9% growth trajectory once global conditions improve.
The recent opening of the corporate bond market to more foreign investment can help support infrastructure development that otherwise could falter during the downturn.
India, however, still requires substantial improvement in agriculture, energy, and infrastructure in order to sustain future growth and continue to alleviate poverty.
For many years now, growth in India's agriculture sector has lagged well below growth in the general economy. But there are new areas of promise in food processing and retail, wherein farmers get higher returns for better harvests, together with extension services and marketing advice. The success of BT cotton in India is due to the market-based, commercial interests of farmers who have sought out and invested in the high-tech cotton to improve their earnings.
India's state-level reforms in agriculture can help raise farmers' incomes and lower their transaction costs. The work between the central government and state governments to improve the timely delivery of inputs - including roads and electricity - also will aid farmers as well as the innumerable cottage industries in rural India.
It is often said that India lives in a dangerous neighborhood. But, now more than ever, I am reminded of how India has gained from embracing the global economy, which enables countries to rise above their geopolitical limitations. Under President Bush's leadership, the U.S. has developed a distinctive, free-standing, bilateral relationship with India with its own vision of the future.
In this new century, economic and political partnerships will develop based on the willingness of nations to ensure a stable and secure environment. India's leaders have come together to strengthen national defenses against terrorism. This will help India to further advance its global engagement and to protect its people more effectively.
It seems to me that, post-Mumbai, the people of India have already demonstrated their support for this visionary leadership. In watching developments and listening to Indian concerns over the last month, I have heard India's people ask its leaders in all fields to improve governance, including internal security.
Recent elections have been a good guide in this area. I was especially impressed by the election process and its outcome in Jammu & Kashmir. Voters turned out in record numbers. They voted in a free and fair election for better governance and managing their own destiny. This surely includes a return to normalcy with peace and the assurance of increased security.
In this first decade of a new century, I have seen our governments and our citizens build a foundation for strong and mutually beneficial ties in the 21st century. Leaders in both our countries recognize that our nations' strengths are derived from rich and enduring sources - entrepreneurial people, cultural and religious diversity, a vibrant democracy and trust in the rule of law.
These strengths are mirrored in our relationship and, in my opinion, ensure that India and the U.S. will continue to strengthen our ties.
Ladies and gentlemen, our relationship has come far. In 1990, we could not have envisaged President Clinton's visit in 2000. In 2000, we could not have believed the attainment of President Bush's vision for India to join the world's nuclear club in 2008. In 2004, we did not anticipate the 9% growth trajectory that India has achieved so recently.
The record shows we are right to aim high.
The way forward is clear. Once again, with peace and humility, I will leave India with a deep sense of pride and accomplishment.