US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on April 26 applauded the success of Indian immigrants, who went to study in the US and said “successes have happened, and now more than 1 in 10 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are Indian immigrants who studied in the US.”
“The old joke was you could not become a CEO in the US if you are Indian, now the joke is you cannot become a CEO in America if you are not Indian, whether it is Google, Microsoft or Starbucks, people have come and made a big difference…,” he said in an interview with ANI.
Amid the ongoing pro-Palestine protests rocking US universities, the ambassador on April 26 stressed that the opinions should be expressed in a ‘peaceful’ manner, underlining that ‘nobody should feel threatened’.
“That’s something that’s unacceptable, and there will be consequences,” Garcetti said. “At the same time, people do have that right to express their opinions, their differences in a peaceful manner, in a way where we can agree to disagree, agree, or we can respect each other’s different opinions. And that’s, I think, the goal for all of us.”
Colleges across the United States are grappling with escalating unrest as pro-Palestinian protests sweep through their campuses, prompting administrators to implement unprecedented measures to address the intensifying situation, according to a CNN report.
Protesters at Columbia University, where demonstrations ignited last week, demand the severance of ties with Israeli academic institutions and complete divestment from entities linked to Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Addressing concerns regarding the safety of Indian students studying in the US amid the recent incidents of the tragic death of many under various circumstances, the US ambassador underlined that his country takes care of the well-being of every student coming to the US and with the higher figures of students coming to the US for studying, he wants to reduce such incidents to zero.
“We care so deeply for the well-being of every student especially our Indian students that are coming to the US. We want to make sure that they have all the information whether it’s mental health care, whether it’s physical safety, and there’s wonderful resources on all of our college campuses that we want to make Indian students know about before they come to the US,” said Garcetti.
“With over 240,000 students of course there’s always going to be tragic incidents but we want to try to get that number as close to zero as we can,” he added.
Highlighting that the Indian students enrich the US culture, the envoy expressed his love and warmth towards the Indian students.
“We love Indian students in America. They improve our campuses, enrich our culture, and we want them to have the very best experience that they can have something that enriches their lives and changes the way that their dreams can come true in their own lives,” he said.
On April 25, the Ministry of External Affairs reacted to the ongoing protests and said that there should be a right balance between freedom of expression and a sense of responsibility, adding that the democratic country is judged by what we do at home and not what we say abroad.”
