00:00First of all, thank you for your very warm welcome, and it's been a phenomenal visit already,
00:05and it's only been a day, and we have so much more work to do, and it's an honor to
00:08be here
00:09with all of you in this important visit to one of our most important strategic partners in the world,
00:16and I want to highlight that point for a minute. We obviously have relations, and we work with
00:20countries all over the world, and we need to, just as India does, and we have all kinds of
00:26alliances and partnerships with countries that we work on, sometimes on discrete and
00:30individualized issues, other times on broader issues that involve one region of the world or
00:35another. A strategic partnership is something very different. It's something much broader than that.
00:39A strategic partnership is when your interests as two nations are aligned, and you work together
00:44strategically to solve those problems, and the list of issues that we work together with India on,
00:50the breadth and scope of them, is what highlights the fact that India is an important strategic
00:55partner of the United States, one of our most important strategic partners in the world.
00:59It begins with the fact of our shared values. We are the two largest democracies in the world,
01:04and so obviously that in and of itself begins to align our interests simply because our leaders
01:09respond directly to voters and people on a regular basis, which means I have to go back and justify to
01:15the American people every decision we make, and the president has to do the same on why it's good for
01:19our country, and our counterparts here in India have to do the exact same thing. You have to respond to
01:24the
01:24people of India about why your partnership with the United States or your stance on any issue
01:28for that matter is to the benefit of your country. I imagine this is true in every country in the
01:33world to some degree, but it is particularly true for democracies. Democracies respond directly to the
01:38people, and you have to respond constantly. In democracies, you have opposition parties, you have a free and open
01:44media. By the way, you have a lot of media. We have media in our government. You guys have a
01:48lot of media, and that means a lot of
01:49scrutiny, a lot of attention. But that begins to align our interests immediately because we both recognize and have
01:55mutual respect and understanding that every decision we make, every announcement we make, everything we work
01:59together on, we ultimately have to go back and justify it to our voters, to our people, the people who
02:04put us in
02:04these positions to begin with. The second point I would make is that our partnership from a strategic
02:10standpoint is not limited to a regional one. Now, clearly, there are regional issues in the Indo-Pacific that are
02:16important to both of our countries. But the ability increasingly as we have conversations, we are
02:21talking about strategic interests that align beyond simply the region. Whether it's your visit last
02:26weekend to the Western Hemisphere, we have a lot of alignment. Whether it's our mutual interest of
02:31what's happening currently now in the Straits of Hormuz and beyond. And then on the topics as well. If you
02:37talk about the topics that we have a mutual interest on, both countries are strategic allies on the idea that
02:43access to critical minerals and supply chains are essential, an essential issue in the 21st century.
02:49The over-concentration of reliance on a single source for anything, particularly things that are
02:55vital for our economies, is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. And we are strategically
03:00aligned on that topic. On the issue of terrorism, both of our countries have suffered both directly and
03:07indirectly because of global terrorist networks. There is a strong counter-terrorism alignment as
03:13a result of that. On innovation and ensuring that all of the promises of new technologies and new
03:19advances in the 21st century, all of them come with risks and rewards. Every technological advancement
03:25that's made individuals and societies more productive have always come with risks associated with
03:30them. Managing those risks and maximizing those benefits is one of the great challenges of the 21st century.
03:36And there's a tremendous strategic alliance between our countries and agreement on that point.
03:41Likewise, on the unimpeded flow of commerce, especially in international airspace and international
03:45waters. This is true in the Indo-Pacific, ensuring that there's a free and open Indo-Pacific,
03:51but it extends beyond the Indo-Pacific. We share as a strategic value the fact that no international
03:57waterway, no international airspace should ever be used or nationalized by any country in the world,
04:03and that that should never be accepted as a new normal. Another area of strong strategic
04:08alignment. And we could go on and on. The bottom line is that the opportunities exist to work
04:13together because not just our shared and common values and our people-to-people ties, but because
04:17our nations are strategically aligned on all of the key issues that will define the new century.
04:23All of the great challenges that are before us now in the modern era, we are strategically aligned on.
04:28And the final point, and this, I mean, is no disrespect to any other country in the world,
04:33but you can have a strategic alliance with countries. But there are only a handful of
04:37countries in the world that have the ability to actually do something about these big issues
04:41on a global scale. There are only a handful of countries in the world that have both the economic
04:46and diplomatic power to be influential on strategic issues from a global perspective. And India is one of
04:54them, which is what adds the finishing touches on the importance of this strategic alliance,
04:59is we have a strategic alliance between the United States and India. It's a strategic alliance between
05:03two countries that have global influence and the ability to influence global events.
05:09And that distinguishes it from other relationships. And so that's why this is an important visit to be
05:15here today. It's why we hope that later this year, the prime minister will visit us in Washington.
05:20It's why I hope our leaders will have a chance to interact in other forums. And I also want to
05:24thank
05:24you, by the way, for hosting the latest meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad, which will be
05:29happening the day after tomorrow, I believe, right? The day after tomorrow. Another important mechanism
05:36of joint cooperation. And one more example of our strategic relationship between our two countries,
05:43because the Quad is a form of alignment between four countries who are not just strategically aligned
05:49on a bunch of key issues, but four countries that have the ability to varying degrees to influence
05:55global events on these topics of mutual interest. So there's a lot of details and things we can talk
06:01about. I didn't mention energy, but we also are strategically aligned on energy. You know, energy is,
06:06and the ability to generate power is the key behind all of the great industries out there. Whether it's
06:13data centers, whether it's artificial intelligence, whether it's the ability to modernize and continue
06:18to advance economically, all of it begins and ends with the ability to generate the power necessary,
06:24not just to raise standards of living, but beyond that, to expand into new industries. And both of our
06:31countries are strategically aligned and ensuring that we have a world that can not just produce,
06:36but deliver the energy resources that are necessary to power a modern economy. So I'm not given the
06:43breadth and scope of areas of alignment. One visit alone will never solve or be able to address all
06:49of these. But this continuing dialogue and engagement between our countries is important because, as I said,
06:55I think it's not just evidence of the importance of our strategic alliance, but it's necessary in order to
07:01continue to advance on all of these topics. So thank you for your warm welcome. Thank you all for
07:05covering these events here today. And I look forward to returning many times, you know, four days for a
07:11country of this size of this beauty and of this diversity and all the things you have to show us.
07:18We can't possibly see it all in four days, but we're going to try or we're going to die trying
07:23because
07:23it's a pretty packed schedule. And I appreciate all everything you facilitated for us in our time here
07:29together. Thank you. Thank you, sir. We now open the floor for some questions. Please be brief
07:36as you ask your question and please do introduce yourself and your organization.
07:42We'll begin there. Kadambani Ritsai, please.
07:47Good afternoon. I'm Kadambani Sharma. I'm an independent journalist. I have a question for both of
07:52you. First, Secretary Rubio to you. Indian students, engineers, doctors, researchers have contributed
08:00enormously to U.S. economy and innovation ecosystems. But the recent changes in J-1 visa, F-1, H-1B
08:08visa are being seen in India as
08:11hurting the core pillar of people to people relationship. What does your administration have
08:16to say about this in regard to Indians and the message to Indians in this regard? Dr. Jaishinka,
08:23to you, my question is, India today has strong relations with UAE, the Gulf countries, Israel, Iran,
08:30and, of course, U.S. here. And how confident are you of managing all these relations at this time in
08:39the current situation? Would you say it is an example of multi-alignment? Thank you.
08:45Thank you. Let me just hand on me. First of all, I take and accept what you've just said about
08:50the
08:50contribution that Indians have made to the U.S. economy. Over $20 billion have been invested in the U.S.
08:57economy by Indian companies. We want that number to continue to increase. And obviously,
09:01the expertise as well that they've provided to our economy has been very, very valuable.
09:05I don't want you to view or anyone – I made this point yesterday in an interview – the changes
09:10that are happening now or the modernization of our migration system into the United States is not
09:15focused. It's not India-specific. It is global. It's being applied across the world. We are in a period
09:20of modernization. And I'll be frank and honest with you because it's important to talk about this.
09:24We've had a migratory crisis in the United States. This is not because of India, but broadly,
09:30we had over 20 million people illegally enter the United States over the last few years,
09:35and we've had to address that challenge in addition to that challenge. And I think this is true for
09:39India. This is true for every country in the world, okay? Everything that you do as a country
09:44needs to be in your national interest, and that includes your immigration policy. The United States,
09:48I believe, is the most welcoming country in the world on immigration. Every single year, a million
09:55people, roughly, become permanent residents of the United States and contribute greatly. My parents
10:00entered the United States as permanent residents in 1956 from Cuba. And so it's a process that's
10:07enriched us. But it has to be a process that's adjusted in every era to the realities of the modern
10:12times in which you live. And it's long overdue. So the United States is currently undergoing a process
10:18of reforming the system by which we choose. How many people come into our country, who comes in, when
10:25they come in, et cetera. Anytime you undertake a reform, anytime you undertake a change in the system
10:31by which you admit people, or frankly, anytime you undertake a reform in any system, not just on
10:36immigration. There's going to be a period of transition that's going to create some friction
10:43points and some difficulties and so forth. Ultimately, we think when this process is in
10:47place, once this process has been modernized, and that's really what it is, we are modernizing
10:52the US immigration system for the 21st century, so that it is an immigration system that's not just
10:57good for the America, but it's also good for the people that are coming. Once we are complete, and once
11:02we've done the work of modernizing that system, I think we're going to come up with a system,
11:05we're going to wind up with a system that's more efficient and even better than the previous system,
11:10and in some ways may prove to be even more beneficial than the previous system was to
11:14people from India that seek to enter the United States to work and innovate. But obviously, there's
11:20going to be a period of adjustment along the way. So what I want to leave clear is that the
11:25changes,
11:25while they may be having a disproportionate impact on a place like India that provides so many high-skilled
11:30workers to the US economy, it is not a system that is targeted at India. It is one
11:35that's being applied globally. But we're in a period of transition, and like any period of transition,
11:40you know, there's going to be some, you know, some bumps on that road. But we think ultimately,
11:46our destination is going to be a better system, a more efficient system, one that works better than
11:51the one that we had in place previously, and more sustainable, by the way.
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