“I have no doubt that close and collaborative relations between America and India will flourish in the next few years,” said U.S. Ambassador to India and Boston University alumnus Dr. David C. Mulford at a recent BU alumni lecture and reception in Mumbai, India.
“Prime Minister Singh and other Indian leaders have clearly projected their intention to undertake a new generation of economic reforms,” said Mulford, “[and] there are significant efforts underway to revitalize the U.S.-India economic dialogue.”
Among these efforts, said Mulford, are four “must-do” items he sees as critical to a stronger U.S.-India economic partnership: building a world-class infrastructure in India, liberalizing its financial markets, advancing its intellectual property rights and biotechnology efforts, and investing in and deregulating its agribusiness, food processing, and retailing sectors.
Mulford delivered his speech, “U.S.–Indo Relations: From a Strategic to a Comprehensive Relationship,” at the event held at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. He was introduced by Milind Deora, a recently elected member of the Indian Parliament, a BU alumnus, and entrepreneur. The event was sponsored by BU and the university’s Indian Alumni Association and nearly 200 guests, mostly BU alumni, attended the event.
Mulford also noted that common interests between the U.S. and India are growing, and include the commitment to defeating terrorism, the search for a freer and more equitable international trading system, military and expansion of defense cooperation, and the search for an equitable peace in the Middle East.
One of the Indian and American partnerships cited by Mulford is the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership initiative, or NSSP, that President Bush and former Prime Minister Vajpayee launched in January of this year. This initiative includes expanded engagement on nuclear regulatory and safety issues and missile defense. The NSSP is, Mulford says, “another area of great promise – and one that is of major strategic and commercial importance.”
Mulford became United States ambassador to India in January 2004. Prior to being nominated as the U.S. ambassador to India, he served as chairman international of Credit Suisse First Boston in London, England (1992 – 2003). From 1984 to 1992, Mulford served in the U.S. Treasury, first as assistant secretary then as undersecretary for international affairs. He earned a doctorate from Oxford University (1966), a master’s degree in political science from Boston University (1962), and a bachelor’s degree in economics, cum laude, from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin (1959).
Boston University, with an enrollment of more than 29,000 in its 17 schools and colleges, is the fourth-largest independent university in the United States. The university has approximately 250,000 alumni worldwide, with a growing number from India.
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