‘India is important country in the world for me,’ US President Joe Biden once told US ambassador

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti emphasied the deep linkages between India and United States while speaking at the Indiaspora G20 forum. He highlighted that President Joe Biden had earlier stressed to him the importance of India in the world and 

He also shared his aspiration to live in Bodh Gaya to do Buddhist studies program. 

“But politics got in the way. I got elected to the student council and I promised I would serve, so my India dream kind of died, or so I thought. But the universe has a curious way of connecting people and dreams. Now suddenly I'm living that dream here when President Biden asked me to consider serving here,” the diplomat said during keynote address 'The Indian Diaspora - A Bridge between the United States and India'..

“He (President Biden) told me, when he asked me to come here to serve, he said, this is the most important country in the world for me, I think something that no American president has ever uttered in the history of our two countries,” he added.

The US Ambassador said: “From technology to trade, from the environment to women's empowerment, from small businesses to space, we used to say the sky is the limit, but now that we're working together in space, not even the sky is the limit. From the seabed to the heavens, the US and India are a force for good and a powerful force to move this world forward.”

Garcetti also pointed at the large population and cited how significant that is. Garcetti said 4 million people represent 1 per cent of the population of America but 6 per cent of the tax base.“ They are 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs.”

Earlier, on Friday, Garcetti said that he is excited to elevate India-US relations during his tenure as he completed 100 incredible days as the US ambassador to India.

(With agency inputs)