New Indian Amb. Jaishankar Makes Houston His First National Stop

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: It was a heady few days for the new Indian envoy to the US, Ambassador Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, as he visited the Bayou City and met with business leaders from the oil and gas industry, healthcare and education areas which he hopes to focus on during his tenure for the next three years. By the time he came to the reception arranged between the Consulate and the Indo American Chamber of Commerce, the polished, demure, slightly built, 59 year-old Jaishankar with a clipped beard and glasses which give him the look of a visiting professor, had taken on a little of the local vernacular to praise the Texan optimism and Houston’s healthy economy.

The event was held in the evening on Monday, February 3 at the top floor banquet room of the Westin Oaks Hotel in the Galleria with a little over 120 invited guests and media to hear the Ambassador speak about his mission in the US and his first impressions of the local Indo American community. During his four day visit, he met many of them at a private reception at the Consul General’s house, at the traditional Republic Day reception that the Indian Consulate throws each year (see page 3) and this reception for the business community. Apart from a pasta island catered by the hotel, the Indian hors d’ouerves was catered by Madras Pavilion.

Jagdip Ahluwalia, the Executive Director of the Chamber greeted the guests with a short discourse of the organization’s history and highlighted four of its major accomplishments over its existence: the MOU between Tata Cancer Center in Bombay and M.D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer research; the direct flights between Houston and New Delhi by then Continental Airlines; encouraging BMC Software’s CEO Bob Beauchamp to set up and expand in India and the relocation of Mahendra & Mahendra’s US operations to Houston. He introduced the IACCGH Board of Directors and the President-elects for 2015 Ashok Garg and for 2016 Joya Shukla.

The newly installed 2014 President Sanjay Ramabhadran extended a Texas sized welcome to the Ambassador, noting that Houstonians were honored that it was the first city he chose to visit since assuming office on December 23, 2013. He acknowledged that the Chamber’s focus was on energy, healthcare and education, echoing the Ambassador’s own agenda. He asked Consul General Parvathaneni Harish to introduce the Ambassador, which he did briefly while heaping praise on the efforts of the Chamber in helping the Indian delegation in its objectives. “The Chamber has been an important partner in helping us”, he said. “Houston is an important overall component in our strategic thinking”.

Before taking on this assignment, Jaishankar has previously the Ambassador to the Czech Republic; High Commissioner to Singapore; then the Ambassador to China, where he took over from Nirupama Rao. It is perhaps no coincidence that he has once again followed to replace her to assume another high-profile posting in Washington, DC after her term expired. He was born in New Delhi, graduated from St. Stephen’s College at the University of Delhi and received a PhD in International Relations from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, specializing in nuclear diplomacy. He was previously at the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC as first secretary from 1985 to 1988.

And his diplomatic skills were very much on display as he reflected on how the relationship between the US and India had changed the ensuing years since his first posting in 1981. Today, the US is a country with 3.5 million Indo Americans in the country and another 2 million on other visas and with the new LNG exporting terminal at Sabine Pass being built, the US is poised to become a major supplier of energy to India. Bilateral trade between the two countries is around $100 billion and Jaishankar would like to see that grow by fivefold by focusing on three areas of cooperation: business, defense aviation and knowledge through education partnerships between universities.

Jaishankar acknowledged that the growth rates in India had slowed down but pointed out that there were two big changes in its economy: 300 infrastructure projects worth $100 billion were recently cleared for implementation and the message that India is sensitive to its problems and is open to business. He added that he was working closely with all five consulates in the US and is open to working with other organizations too in pursuit of his goals. “We are all going through tough times right now”, he concluded, “but I feel a sense of optimism in Texas”.

The Ambassador opened up the floor to questions, of which there were several from the audience, mostly dealing with the energy sector. He answered the question by a female guest on India’s response to violence against women by saying that public sentiment demanded strict action and the government was taking appropriate steps. On the question of water and pollution control in India and if that technology was a goal of his to tackle, he responded that it was.

After the Ambassador spoke, University of Houston President and Chancellor Renu Khator was given a chance to address the audience about the education initiatives that she has worked on in India, and she added the vast improvements that have been made to the city’s largest Tier One accredited university. She invited the Ambassador to visit the university when he next comes to Houston.