During a visit to Silicon Valley last week, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nancy Izzo Jackson told community leaders and local Indian media reporters that India's G20 presidency will help the country accelerate its growth in all areas. On December 1, last year, India assumed the G20 Presidency.
"As we look at India's G20 presidency, we see that India's role on the global stage is expanding. "And so does the relationship between the United States and India," Jackson said. Ajay Jain Bhutoria, a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, organized the interaction, in which a visiting team of senior State Department officials briefed eminent Indian American community members on the status of India-US ties, the importance of the diaspora in this, and answered their questions.
During the conversation, Jackson emphasized India's international role, particularly as the president of the G20, as well as the steps being taken by the State Department to reduce visa wait times in India.
Karen Klimowski, USAID Deputy Mission Director for India, Jennifer Sudweeks, Division Chief for Outreach and Inquiries Bureau of Consular, Affairs office of Visa Services, Jenn Miller, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Domestic Outreach and Partnerships, and Radhika Prabhu, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Women's Economic Empowerment were also part of the State Department team to Silicon Valley.
"Such an initiative by the State Department was very much welcomed and appreciated by the community," Bhutoria said after the event, adding that the Silicon Valley community received first-hand information on the India-US relationship as well as the opportunity to ask direct questions to senior State Department officials.
"Every day, the United States and India benefit from the growing innovation and opportunities made possible by our people-to-people ties. "Heard from Bay Area Indian-American innovators, educators, physicians, businesspeople, and civil society leaders about what more we can do to support their work," the State Department's South and Central Asia Bureau said in a tweet.
In response to questions, State Department officials explained the steps the US government is taking on various aspects of visas, such as reducing wait times and launching a pilot project in the coming months for stamping certain categories of H-1B visas inside the country.
