Napam (Tezpur), Feb 24 � Stressing better US-India relations in the educationl area, particularly the IT sector, US Ambassador to India, A Peter Burleigh today said that India is now capable of facing any challenge in the IT sector.
Burleigh was attending an interactive session with university students as well as the teaching staff at Tezpur University some 20 km from Tezpur town.
Stating that the US has been an ultimate destination for bright students from across the world, the US high official said US President Barack Obama and the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh had met a number of times on the issue of development of the IT sector.
�It has been exciting to see the transformation that has taken place over the four decades since then. There have been a lot of changes, but I think one of the most exciting, one of the most promising changes, is the manner in which the youth of India are playing an increasingly proactive role on issues that matter to them, whether it is education and the economy, or corruption and governance, or environmental protection and energy,� he said.
�President Barack Obama�s concept of educational development has helped India to increase the number of Indian universities as a result of which at present there are altogether 2,300 US students in India as the different Indian institutes have been able to attract the students hailing from across the world,� Burleigh said adding that as there has been an exchange of ideas in the area of educational development, there are one lakh Indian students in various US institutions.
Burleigh added that IITs have been opened in India with the influence of America and at present the IT sector in India is largely developed.
Replying to queries from the students regarding placement of students in the USA from India passing out from different departments of the academic area, Burleigh further stated that they have been dealing with the issue very sincerely so that students rushed to the USA from India could be provided placement.
Regarding the employment crises all over the world the Us Ambassador said that not only in India, even in a developed country like USA during the last four years the unemployment problem is looming large, and �for the mitigation of the same we have been trying to find out certain commendable mechanisms like the exchange of views in educational line. And as part of the same we can term this US-India as one of those agendas.�
He further said that the US-India relationship is about the big picture. �We are building one of the most far reaching and ambitious partnerships in the world today. We both seek a world that is safer, freer and democratically aligned and that allows its citizens to pursue their dreams of education, prosperity and freedom. We see this unfolding in numerous aspects of the partnership, and we are focused on areas that will bring mutual benefit,� he said.
The IT sector is a good example of this mutual benefit. The IT sector in India largely developed through provision of services to US customers. Today, the IT sector is expanding through shared US and Indian efforts to develop increasingly complex applications and service increasingly intertwined economies. The mutual benefit to jobs in India and the US is enormous, he added.
�As good jobs in both countries raise living standards and increase buying power, both economies continue to grow and become more deeply intertwined. There is no sector that better illustrates the mutual benefit of our relationship better than education, a priority sector in both the US and India,� Burleigh said.
