![]() And my dad says, ‘You should be sure to tell him that’.” And he says, ‘You know, son, we and the Prime Minister, we are from the same place’. As you can imagine, this was pretty exciting, so I told my dad about it. It was President Obama’s first term and I was invited to the arrival ceremony at the White House for Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh. “In the fall of 2009, I was an Assistant Secretary at the State Department. It was always this same sort of thing, we are from the same place, or the same village, or the same school. ![]() And when I was growing up, no matter what the answer to that question was, my dad would turn to me and say ‘You see son, we are from the same place’. “This is a multi month and year process, it’s not going to happen quickly, but we continue to move towards this goal.”īorn to Indian-Americans, Verma regaled the audience with an anecdote from his life: “One of the things about my dad is that wherever we are in the world, whenever we meet another Indian - whether it is a shopkeeper, doctor, restaurant owner, it doesn’t matter - my dad will have a conversation with them that inevitably winds its way back around to a conversation about where the person is from. He said when US President Barack Obama met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January this year, there was “clarity” on the commitment to stand up to terrorism “wherever it occurs, whenever it occurs”. “I look back at the assistance levels… vast amount of assistance is in the civilian side - health, infrastructure, education - to bolster the civilian elements of the society.” He said people can “disagree” with US assistance to Pakistan, but there is a “deadly and dangerous insurgency” and it’s a “very challenging” situation. I understand the tension, but I think it’s in no one’s interest for chaos to reign, or the insurgency to spin out of control and to try to get it in.” So tools are required… give Pakistan the tools to combat insurgency. On US assistance to Pakistan, he said, “Our policy in Pakistan is designed to try to see some degree of stability, some degree of peace for people, and to ensure that this insurgency that threatens the people of Pakistan can no longer threaten people. When Madhu Kishtwar, an activist and senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), raised the issue that the Ambassador’s comments were “undiplomatic”, Verma said he respected her views, and was “confident” that they could work through this issue with the Indian government. I just think there is a rich tradition of civil society here and am confident that this will be resolved positively.” We can have a view, but the space given to the civil society is a question for the people of India to resolve. “Ultimately, these are questions for the people of this country to resolve. “They did that largely by working with the state government, so this race to the top among states is a very positive thing.” He cited the example of Google’s move to open its second largest technology and research park in southern India. We have seen the states actually make a very aggressive push for foreign investment, we have seen them set up creative opportunities like the regulatory clearance window.” “The other phenomenon we are seeing is that as you get gridlocked in the nation’s capital, whether it’s Washington or New Delhi, we see a lot of activity moving to the states. So, we have to do a better job as to why the reform story actually helps lift people from the bottom of the pyramid.” He said the United States and economic reform votaries have to convey that “pro-reform can be good for ordinary people too… these are not inconsistent principles… you can open up the economy, you can open up sectors, and still have the fidelity with the people that need those kind of opportunities, and that has been proven… in emerging economies across the world. “I would also state to you though that you look at any kind of 12-month period of any foreign capital - London, Washington, Paris - and look at the degree of progress that has been made (here), I think it’s a relatively positive story about where we have come.”
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