Bengaluru, January 17 :
US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti on Friday attended the inauguration ceremony of US Consulate office in Bengaluru. Speaking at the occasion, Garcetti said that it was not a new presence of the US in India, but they are rather expanding their presence.

"We are not beginning a new presence here. In Karnataka, but we are expanding our existing presence here, a commitment that America makes to this great state and city in this amazing nation as well. And thank you to all of our honourable dignitaries," he said. Garcetti said that it was Jaishankar's idea to build a Consulate in Bengaluru, and the promise was kept.

"But today we fulfil a commitment made by our leaders during Prime Minister Modi's state visit to Washington last year. And it was actually in one of the preparatory meetings we had when the Secretary of State came here before G20 that we were at Hyderabad House in Delhi, and Minister Jaishankar took me aside and said, hey, we want you to open up more consulates here. And ever since, the Indian government has been pushing and pushing, and we've had a bureaucracy in America too, but President Biden put in the leader's statement with Prime Minister Modi that this would happen, and today a promise made is a promise kept. And this tangible expansion of our partnership is based on so much that we already have here," he said.

Garcetti said that it was his honour to share the stage with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the occasion of his last speech in the office. "It's also a great honour that my last public speech as United States Ambassador that I get to share the stage with somebody who has been a friend, a mentor, somebody who used the word Deputy Chief Minister tycoon. He is a tycoon of diplomacy. He is somebody who is a thinker. He is a facilitator. I think more world leaders know him as a friend. He'll be representing this nation at the swearing in of our next president, but I want to thank Dr Jaishankar for the work he has done. Over decades, not only as somebody who has roots here in this city, but to push this day forward and to push a friendship that is a defining relationship in the world today between the United States and India," he said.

Garcetti said that as people call Bengaluru the 'Silicon Valley' of India, he called Silicon Valley is the Bengaluru of America. "In some ways, Bengaluru is the most American of Indian cities, and Karnatakans are one of the most, if not the most vibrant Indian communities in America. So this is not a new bridge, but it's a bridge that will be strengthened today. It'll be a bridge that will be widened today. And this is a bridge that will be more beautiful today because in commerce and diplomacy, in culture, in finance, in technology and the future, we say that this is a place for two great nations to expand that friendship and to see the future of that engagement. We have two sister cities in America. I spoke with the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio this morning who sends his congratulations, and the new mayor of San Francisco- in my home state. And San Francisco is such a great match because as people say, this is the Silicon Valley of India. I think increasingly people say Silicon Valley is the Bengaluru of America, but we see from semiconductors to space, our defence sector, and in health, people who have pushed forward the boundaries of what human beings can make and do together. This consulate is going to play a pivotal role in supporting those collaborations for our economies, for science, for technology, education, cultural engagement," he said.

Garcetti highlighted the history of India-US relations, saying that the US opened its second-ever consulate in India ever since US independence in Kolkata. He hoped that the Bengaluru Consulate office would further deepened their friendship. "We've been talking about this for a long, long time, right? We start together to make sure this beginning plants a seed that will flower for decades to come. You know our relationship in India is not new. In fact, many Americans don't know, and very few Indians know that our second consulate in the world was here in India. First after the independence of a new America in 1776, we opened a consulate in Lyon, France, and then the second was in Kolkata, showing back then the importance of India to a new American nation. Since then, we have built to 5 posts, 7 if you count our commercial offices including here and an Ahemdabad, and this is now the 2nd largest mission of America anywhere in the world. It produces the 2nd most visas, the most students. We're breaking records every single year, record employees, record visas, record students, record military exercises, record engagement from the seabed to space," he said.

Garcetti said that visa services will not be offered right away, but they will soon start the services in Bengaluru. He said he hoped to see more students and tourists in the US. "While visa services will not be offered at the beginning, we will eventually bring visa services here. So I know everybody's been waiting a long time. It is everybody's favourite topic with an ambassador. We want to see more tourists. We want to see more students. We want to see more businessmen and women coming, but initially this will not be offering visas, but we will be working on that to bring that as soon as possible, also something that we promised here today. We also know that this is a critical first step, not a last one, and dedication ceremonies like this are a way to celebrate our future. We've been here for 30 years, as Consul General Hodges mentioned. We have had a commercial service office here which has helped more than 700 companies from America come here. That is a staggering statistic," he said.

Garcetti, in his last speech highlighted his age-old history with India. He said that he visited India as a 14-year-old boy and went on to become the US Ambassador to India. He narrated the journey of his travels to Indian states. "You know, when I first got here to India, I had first come to this country when I was 14 years old. My parents brought my sister and I here on a trip. And immediately India captured my heart. When I went to university, I had to study a foreign language, so I chose Hindi and Urdu. People said, why are you studying an Indian language? And then my college roommate randomly assigned to me. His father became the United States ambassador to India when I was 19 years old and I returned, spending 2 nights in the residence of the United States ambassador in Delhi. I never would have dreamed that my life would bring me to that same place, that I would be in this position to be able to help along with Jaishankar, our leaders and our people, to put forward what is really a light and an example to our world of when two great democracies, two diverse populations based on the values that hold us together, have a vision to make this a better world. I've had chai with soldiers in the heights of Ladakh at 17,000 ft. I bathe in the warm waters of Kanyakumari alongside Indian friends as the sun rises over the statue of Vivekananda. I've talked with students, girls on the edge of the desert in Rajasthan, who were the first in their family to ever go to school, who dream of being a biotech tycoon when they grow up. And I've been in the jungles of Nagaland where entrepreneurs are bringing their incredible artisanship to global economies and stores around the world," he said.

Garcetti said that the hopes and dreams of Indians have never been as strong as they are now, and that the doors of the consulate will always be open. "I've seen the hopes and dreams of Indians never as strong in the many decades I've come here as right now, so I want to say thank you to India. Because I'll tell you, so much has changed a country that you're building a new, a Bengaluru that is an international capital, a Karnataka that is a place of innovation, and an India that always looks at tomorrow differently than today. But one thing that has never changed is the soul of this place. It's warmth, it's welcome, and the way that it's captured my heart, and I can think of no better last act as your ambassador from the United States than to make sure this consulate site is open," he said.

Source: ANI

'Fulfilled a commitment made by our leaders,' US Envoy Eric Garcetti after inaugurating Bengaluru Consulate