"We are incredibly fortunate that the US has 200,000 Indian students,” says Secretary of State Blinken at Howard University

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently participated in a conversation with students, faculty, and leadership of Howard University.

Speaking at an India-US Education Collaboration event on Tuesday (local time), Blinken said the University has played an important role in building bonds between India and the US. Highlighting the "deeper academic" ties between the United States and India, Blinken further said that the partnership is absolutely crucial and pertinent for addressing the problems of the 21st century.

"We are incredibly fortunate that the US has 200,000 Indian students studying in our universities enriching our campuses and fellow citizens and we see many American students studying and working in India through programs like Fulbright or the Gilman fellowships," said Blinken while adding that a working group has been formed for the people of both the countries to facilitate learning and to develop a new joint research programme.

The US Secretary of State also spoke about civil rights leader and American author Howard Thurman's pilgrimage to India. "The conversation (with Mahatma Gandhi) and the trip made a lasting impression on Thurman. So when he came back to Howard, he developed his interpretation of nonviolence - not as a political tactic, but as a spiritual lifestyle," Blinken stated.

"These connections and so many others across our shared history make clear that our people do share a special bond, and that as the world's oldest and largest democracies, our countries always have something to learn from each other," Blinken said, adding "that's why we see our cultural and educational ties continue to grow every single year."