August 24, 2006

REMARKS OF U.S. CONSUL GENERAL HENRY V. JARDINE

to

The Manipur University

“EMERGING TRENDS IN U.S.-INDIA RELATIONS”

August 24, 2006

Vice Chancellor Professor

I would like to thank the Faculty and Students of Manipur University for inviting me here today to speak on “Emerging Trends in U.S-Indian Relations.” 
I have been working in East and Northeast India for just a year but it has been a very busy year, reflecting the rapid developments in the U.S.-India relationship.

As U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford said in his remarks during his visit to Calcutta in 2005:

            U.S. – India relations are at an all-time high . . . .   Our two great pluralistic democracies are now positioned for a partnership that will be crucial in shaping the international landscape of the 21^st century.

The framework for our two countries’ Global Partnership was formalized during the historic visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the United States in July.  During that visit, the Prime Minister and President Bush signed a U.S.-India Joint Statement pledging to work together in a host of areas including science, technology, civil nuclear energy, space, democracy, HIV/AIDs research and several other fields. 

In March this year, those agreements were reaffirmed and expanded, reflecting the great progress that we have made in recent months.

Last month we saw the most recent result of our cooperation in the area of scientific research when our two Governments signed The India-U.S. Science and Technology Agreement at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in November 2005.  The agreement will allow for exchange of data and establish collaborative projects in nanotechnology and biotechnology.  Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said on signing the agreement, it “will be a great leap forward in joint cooperation.”   An earlier effort in 1993 to negotiate a similar agreement stalled over disagreements regarding IPR provisions.  This agreement will now serve to encourage more scientific cooperation in the areas of space, energy, health and other technologies

We are already seeing the tangible benefits of this cooperation in the level of research presently being conducted between various universities in the United States and research facilities in India and in East India.  The U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) has already budgeted around USD 20 million for the University of Calcutta, the Institute of Molecular Medicine and the Indian Institute of Management to conduct joint research with universities and organizations in the U.S. on areas related to immunology, HIV/AIDS and child health.

Specifically in the area of HIV/AIDS, again the Indo-U.S. cooperation is reaching new heights.  As part of the July agreements between Prime Minister Singh and President Bush was a USD 7 million commitment to assist India in its fight against the serious problem of HIV/AIDS.  Infections in India are increasing with a present infection rate of approximately 5.1 million.  In East India, it is a critical issue as Manipur and Nagaland were identified as two of the six states in India with epidemic rates of infection.  Mizoram, Assam and Tripura are also seen as high risk and West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar are also showing signs of facing a potential crisis as well. 

However, the U.S. Government’s commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in India does not stop at just USD 7 million.   We are looking at providing a total of USD 30 million in fiscal year 2006 to fight HIV/AIDS in the States facing the highest levels of infection.  The money will assist the India’s National Aids Control Organization (NACO) and its National Aids Control Plan (NACP).  The funds will be used to provide Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARV), other needed medicines, testing, counseling and sentinel programs to track infection statistics.

In the related problem of trafficking of women and children, again the US Government is working very closely with India to find solutions.  In the next year, the US Government will be providing over USD 5 million to combat the problem of trafficking.   USD 1 million will go to various NGOs in India, with over USD 500,000 going to organizations organizations around East India.  Just in July, I attended a regional seminar in Shillong hosted by Impulse Network and funded by the USG.  That July program brought together NGOs and government officials in the region to talk about the issue and approaches to fighting trafficking of women and children.  This issue is especially relevant for this region, given its many international borders and economic pressures which force many people to become trafficking victims.

Our cooperation on social issues extends to the environment as well.  India’s huge population and economic development is placing a great strain on the environment and biodiversity.  The United States is partnering with the Government of India and eastern Indian states to limit some of the pressures on the environment.   The US Fish and Wildlife Service has provided millions of dollars in assistance to various preservation projects in East India and West Bengal. 
In 2005, USFW Director Dale Hall announced a USD 7 Million program of international conservation grants.   As Director Hall noted,

"America has a rich tradition of taking a leadership role in supporting wildlife conservation globally, said Hall. "These grants continue that tradition by offering on-the-ground support to governments, not-for-profit organizations, businesses, and landowners who are making a real difference in wildlife conservation." 

Included in the grant awards is funding to assist in the recovery of elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes and marine turtles, and includes a partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India to equip field staff in areas where tigers are protected with anti-poaching kits.  Some 400 forest guards of Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal and Manas National Park in Assam will be issued the equipment.  

From social and environment programs, we have also extended our cooperation to promoting democracy.   Our two great democracies, the United States and India, have committed to work together to advance the cause of freedom and democracy in the world.   As part of the July agreements, President Bush and Prime Minister Singh agreed on a Global Democracy Initiative that outlines our two nations shared commitment to democracy and belief that we have an obligation to the global community to strengthen values, ideals and practices of freedom, pluralism, and rule of law.  With our solid democratic traditions and institutions, our two nations have agreed to assist other societies in transition seeking to become more open and democratic.  We both recognize that democracy is central to economic prosperity and development and to building peaceful societies. 

As part of this initiative, the U.S. and India committed to establishing a virtual Coordination and Information Center to share best practices on democracy, identify opportunities for joint support, and highlight capacity-building training programs.

The Virtual Democracy Center website can be found at http://democracy.state.gov.

The United States and India are also cooperating closely under the auspices of the Community of Democracies, supporting UN electoral assistance programs, and have each provided USD 10 million to the UN Democracy Fund.

The United States and India are also strengthening an increasingly dynamic strategic relationship. Cooperation on political issues -- from promotion of democracy abroad to global peacekeeping operations, to combating terrorism and WMD threats -- are at the core of the bilateral relationship. Defense cooperation has reached new levels and military cooperation in the tsunami disaster was unprecedented.  Defense Minister

Pranab Mukherjee and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld signed a New Defense Framework for the U.S.-India Defense Relationship on June 28th.  This agreement will guide our defense relations for the next decade in a wide variety of areas, including the enlargement of defense trade, improved cooperation between our armed forces,
co-production of military hardware, and greater technology transfer. 

The successful cooperation of our two militaries during the response to the tsunami disaster last year has been followed more recently in September by much appreciated Indian military assistance to victims in the United States from Hurricane Katrina.  These are remarkable examples of how far we have come, and the great potential we have for the future.

Again, as a sign of our strategic cooperation here in East India, in September last year our two Armies conducted joint jungle warfare training in Mizoram.  We also saw last November, the successful completion of a joint air force exercise: COPE-India at Kalaikunda Air Field.  The exercise was the largest exercises between our two air forces and involved an extensive array of the latest air force technology.  Both air forces shared information, gained excellent experience, and created an environment of mutual respect and understanding.

These developments do not compromise India’s sovereignty or independence.  These are agreements between two equal, important partners, who look to the future and understand what some of their shared values and objectives must be. 

Great progress is also being made on the economic front as well.  As a result of the July agreements, our two countries have committed to India’s economic development in the following areas:

-         Revitalize the U.S.-India Economic Dialogue and to launch a CEO Forum to harness the private sector’s energy and ideas in order to deepen the bilateral economic relationship.

-         Support and accelerate economic growth in both countries through greater trade, investment and technology collaboration.

-         Promote modernization of India’s infrastructure as a prerequisite for the continued growth of the Indian economy.  As India enhances its investment climate opportunities for investment will increase.

-         Launch a U.S.  India Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture focused on promoting teaching, research, services and commercial linkages.

Overall, India-U.S. trade is very important to both countries.  The United States is India’s largest single national trading partner and India is doing very well in that relationship, sustaining a surplus of approximately USD 9 billion in trade. 

We at the Consulate also recognize that the key to any broad initiative to develop closer relations between our two countries is the critical person-to-person contact.   We take our role in facilitating that contact very seriously.   Our Consular section processes over 24,000 visas a year, giving Indian people an opportunity to travel to the U.S. and to make the critical contacts needed for a successful bilateral relationship.  India as a whole ranks second worldwide in the volume of U.S. visa applications, with almost 400,000 visas processed this year.  India leads in the number of temporary workers visas issued by four times the next closest country. 

We do a lot as well in assisting students traveling to the U.S. in the hope that they can serve as future partners when they return to India.  Our United States Education Foundation in India (USEFI) office located at the American Center provides advice and counseling to prospective students.  To those of you in the audience interested in traveling to the US, I suggest you to consider their excellent services.  USEFI in the past year gave assistance to over 25,000 prospective students. 

Reflecting how effective our efforts have been to encourage students to go to the U.S. , two weeks ago, the Institute of International Education and The Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs reported that India remains the largest sending country for students, the fourth year in a row, seeing a 1 percent increase to 80,466 students.  On release of the latest data, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational And Cultural Affairs Dina Habib Powell noted, “The United States remains the best place in the world to pursue higher education and we continue to assure international students that they are welcome to our country.”

I would like to extend that welcome to you all as well and hope that we all can contribute to the growing partnership between our two countries.  I tried to summarize as succinctly as possible the full scope of the bilateral relationship.  However, I feel I did not do real justice to how much is really happening across the range of our cooperation.   I was unable to comment on the numerous development programs we have initiated, the work we are doing in civil nuclear cooperation and regional security efforts.  However, I do appreciate the opportunity that you have provided me today to speak, if in only a limited way, on the truly amazing developments in Indo-U.S. relationship.  I consider myself very fortunate to be present in India at such an historic time and I hope that the students here, as the future leaders of India, will be able to continue the great progress that is being made today in the engagement with the United States.  Thank you.