“India will be a technology leader of the world within next few decades,” said US Consulate General, Chennai Consul for Public Affairs Frederick J Kaplan.
Delivering a talk on Indo-US relationship organised by the St Aloysius College here on Wednesday, he said India has huge youth workforce, which will definitely lead the country.
He said India and US share strong relationship. The relationship improved drastically with the opening of the Indian economy in the early 90’s. Many of the Indians are immigrating to US insearch of better opportunities, higher education. However, several Indians are coming back to India realising the huge potentials in the country.
There are nearly 78,000 Indian students pursuing their higher education in US and 2.5 million Indian-American in US.
Mr Kaplan said The ties between India and US are laid on shared values, interest and promotion of peace and harmony in the world. Americans are also trying to understand the Indian culture, tradition and history. There are nearly 2,000 Americans in various Indian universities pursuing their studies. They become Indianised over the time, which is a healthy trend.
He said Indo-American ties have entered the fields of agriculture, IT, biomedical research, biotechnology. They are linked to greater opportunities for doctors, engineers, scientists. US is spending $ 110 million to encourage joint research to improve the technology in agriculture.
Nuclear deal
Indo-US nuclear deal will not affect the sovereignty of the country. India is a developing country and the consumption of energy is increasing rapidly. The deal will help in finding ways to have abundant, cleaner energy. Energy co-operation will not affect India’s independent foreign policy.
Visa
Mr Kaplan also informed that there is no restriction for student visa unlike work visa. Since the education and life style in US is costlier, bright students with the help of scholarships can pursue their higher studies.