News India Times

www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times July 23, 2021 5 Cover Story A diplomat’s account of 3 years in India reveals New Delhi held in high standing The US relationship with Kolkata dates back to 1794 when the first US president George Wash- ington appointed businessman Benjamin Joy as US Consul to Kolkata I t has been a great honor to serve as the US Consul General in Kolkata. I have absolutely loved my time here and I am departing with many cherished memories. The people I have met and the friendships I have made are what made my tenure particularly special and what I will miss most.  I have visited all 11 states in our consular district (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, andWest Bengal). I have enjoyed experiencing the vibrancy and diversity of the culture, art, music, food, literature, architecture, religions, ethnici- ties, languages, and geography of east and northeast India. It has also been very fulfilling to experience first-hand the bilateral cooperation in action during my tenure. Over my three-year tenure, we have accomplished a lot. But it has not always been easy. We have witnessed the destruc- tion and suffering caused by Cyclone Amphan and the global pandemic. We chartered flights and arranged ground transportation for over 200 American citizens stuck in eastern and northeastern India after the pandemic lockdown; we cooperated on vaccine diplomacy; we assisted vulnerable communities and supported small and medium businesses; and we continued our work to prevent human trafficking. Our public engagement programs moved online and are reaching new audiences across the consular district, advancing diplomacy, and supporting education. Our visa operations are back up and running. Despite these dire times, we have built relationships, strengthened existing ties, and found new ways to cooperate in advancing our shared interests and values. In 2019, the US Consulate General Kolkata celebrated 225 years of continuous diplomacy between the United States and Kolkata. The US relationship with Kolkata dates back to 1794 when the first US president GeorgeWashington appointed businessman Benjamin Joy as US Consul to Kolkata. I am delighted to have had the opportunity to be part of this long tradition and substantive relationship. Repatriation On March 24, 2020, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered what became the largest Covid-19 lockdown in the world. Hundreds of American citizens were stranded in eastern and northeastern India. Working with India’s Ministry of External Affairs, state governments, law enforce- ment, transportation companies, Kolkata airport authorities, and Air India, Consul- ate staff helped US citizens travel from remote corners of our consular district to the Kolkata airport, where we chartered flights to take them to New Delhi and then on to the United States. We received great cooperation and support from all the state governments and partners in our district. This was really what we call a whole-of-govern- ment approach from both the US and Indian governments to help stranded citizens re-connect with their loved ones. Covid-19 andvaccine diplomacy Just as India came to our aid when our own healthcare system was under tremendous strain last year, the US stands with India. While the Covid-19 pandemic has been difficult for everyone, it also provides us an example of what strong partnerships, like the US-India Compre- hensive Global Strategic Partnership, can accomplish when working together. The US government rapidly deployed seven planeloads of life-saving supplies to India during the recent second wave. The US government assistance amounted to about USD 100 million in commodities and technical assistance, and the Ameri- can people through the private sector donated an additional USD 400 million worth of assistance support. Additionally, both Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) built upon more than 70 years of strong partnerships with Indian counterparts on public health initiatives to provide training and technical assistance. Indians and Americans worked together to strengthen laboratories, disease surveillance and epidemiology, emer- gency responses, infection prevention and control, vaccine rollout, contact tracing procedures, and risk communica- tions. They trained 10,000 frontline healthcare workers on safe sample collection, transport, and testing. Also, on vaccines, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is expanding manufacturing of safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines with funding to Indian manufacturer Biological E Ltd. to produce one billion doses by the end of 2022. President Joe Biden has announced the US will share 80 million doses of our vaccine supply with the world, will purchase an additional half-billion doses of Pfizer to donate to nations in need, and at the recent G7 Summit, announced a commitment with G7 leaders to provide more than 1 billion additional doses for the world.  The US government is com- mitted to ending the Covid-19 pandemic everywhere for our collective global health security.     Comprehensive global strategic partnership The US-India relationship has always enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the US, and in recognition of that has been designated as a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. The Biden-Harris administration has continued to grow the relationship by expanding cooperation through the Quad to support a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific; enhance collaboration on public health initiatives on Covid-19, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, antimicrobial resistance, and the Global Health Security Agenda; and reinvigorate coordination on the fight against climate change. President Biden has placed a high priority By Patti Hoffman A man holds the flags of India and the U.S. while people take part in the 35th India Day Parade in New York August 16, 2015. Medical supplies from the U.S. land in India April 29-30. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the opening session of 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Kathmandu, November 26, 2014. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/Files Photo:USAID IndiaTwitter Reuters An American Experience - Continued On Page 6

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