India Emerging as Leading World Power: US Ambassador Garcetti

US Ambassador Eric Garcetti on Wednesday said India is emerging as a leading power in the world, adding he is impressed with the progress the country has made in the last three decades.

Talking to reporters here, Garcetti also said the US and India share the same concern over the prevailing situation in Pakistan.

“I think the US, India and the world share the same concern. We want stability in Pakistan. We hope that there won’t be unrest in Pakistan,” he said.

“We stay engaged with Pakistan because of that. I think that serves India and the US and the world. We hope that the rule of law and peace will prevail over the border. But that is up to the Pakistani people to decide,” he said.

Garcetti said that during his Mumbai visit, he had a great time discussing ways to strengthen Indo-US partnership with leading cultural, financial, and business figures.

“I first came to India as a teenager, and I learned so much. I learned how deeply we are connected to people everywhere on this planet, no matter where we live, what language we speak, how much money we have, or how we worship,” he said.

“As a teenager, I never could have imagined the growth and progress that India has achieved in the past three decades. India is emerging as a leading power in the world,” he said.

Garcetti said that in 1992, the year he graduated from college after studying Hindi and Indian cultural and religious history, US-India ties had languished.

“Our annual trade stood at USD 2 billion, our development relationship was a one-way flow, our defence trade was zero, and our military interoperability was non-existent,” he said.

“The US is now India’s biggest trading partner, with USD 191 billion in bilateral trade last year. India now sends the most students of any country to the US. Our militaries train together.

“We are protecting an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient. And our leading companies collaborate to solve global challenges in inclusive development and renewable energy,” he said.

“We are jointly addressing global health and development challenges, confronting climate change, and delivering next generation critical and emerging technologies. We are showing the world how the United States and India are better together,” he said.