91探花

Jindal School of International Affairs, Jindal India Institute, and Jindal Global Centre for G20 Studies jointly hosted Mr. Eric M. Garcetti, Ambassador of the United States of America to India, on JGU campus on April 8. Ambassador Garcetti delivered a distinguished public lecture on the theme 鈥楾he Most Consequential Relationship of the Century: Indo-American Ties鈥� during his visit to the campus.

Ambassador Garcetti鈥檚 perspective on Indo-American ties focused on the shared aspirations and the collective pursuit of a world characterised by what he called 鈥�4 Ps鈥�: peace, prosperity, planet, and people. He narrated personal memories of magical moments he experienced during his visits to India since childhood. He said he had a deep emotional connection with India for decades and stated 鈥淚ndia never left my soul鈥�. He mentioned US President Joe Biden had told him that India 鈥渨as the most important country in the world鈥� and that Washington鈥檚 ties with New Delhi were 鈥渢he most consequential鈥� for shaping the world order in the 21st century.

Ambassador Garcetti termed the ties between the US and India as 鈥渘ot an additive relationship but a multiplicative relationship鈥� between the world鈥檚 two largest democracies, underscored by a robust exchange in education, trade, and the joint venture of envisioning a green energy future. During the interactive session that followed, the audience engaged the Ambassador on a diverse array of topics spanning domestic politics in India, racial discrimination in the US, regional security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, the role of artificial intelligence and critical and emerging technologies in the US-India strategic partnership, and the potential of multilateral groupings like the Quad being expanded or extended to include more countries.

On controversies regarding comments made by the US about internal developments in India, Ambassador Garcetti said that the US is a unique democracy where every branch of government, the news media and civil society has its own views and opinions about different countries. These opinions are frequently aired publicly as part of the open American political system. At the same time, the US is ready to also take criticism from other countries as part of this liberal ethos. Ambassador Garcetti praised India for organising mammoth general elections with nearly one billion voters in the electorate and said that 鈥渢he US has something to learn from India鈥� in how to improve its electoral practices and procedures.

On the question of Arunachal Pradesh being an integral part of India, the Ambassador was categorical that China has no business to rename places that are part of India鈥檚 sovereign territory. He reiterated that the US fully supports India鈥檚 sovereignty and that the defence cooperation between the two partners is reaching unprecedented levels so as to deter aggressive authoritarian rival countries. He said that as two democracies, the US and India thought and felt alike about the threat posed by dictatorial regimes like that of China and that the convergence of values was the key factor driving Washington and New Delhi closer.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr. C. Raj Kumar, the Founding Vice Chancellor of 91探花, remarked, 鈥淲e owe a tremendous intellectual debt to American universities for their open and generous support and capacity building of Indian higher education institutions. The way US universities have attained the highest standards in the world and solved the most intractable problems facing humanity is worth learning from and emulating for Indian academia. Education is going to be a transformative driving factor in the US-India partnership.鈥�

The Dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs, Dr. Sreeram Chaulia, cited Ambassador Garcetti鈥檚 view that the US-India partnership had presently only reached the point of being 鈥渕idway up the mountain鈥� and referred to the limitless possibilities that lay ahead. Dr. Chaulia echoed India鈥檚 External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar鈥檚 comments that 鈥測ou ain鈥檛 seen anything yet鈥� in the US-India friendship and pointed to the fact that 鈥渢he two countries were jointly combating shared adversaries and remaking the Indo-Pacific in a way that only allies do.鈥� While the US and India are not formal allies, many of the domains of bilateral cooperation are 鈥済oing in the direction of a de facto alliance-like friendship.鈥� Owing to this level of close intimacy, it is not uncommon that the US and India disagree on some matters. But 鈥渢he basic fundamentals of the relationship are so strong that such disagreements and differences in assessment should not be exaggerated,鈥� Dr. Chaulia noted.