US health scientists and doctors working in Jharkhand hospitals alongwith local doctors to find permanent solutions for spread of infectious diseases in and around Jharkhand seem to be a reality very soon. Calling upon India as one of the closest partners of United States Of America (USA) in 21st century at a series of fronts, Consul General of USA in Kolkata Craig l Hall said on Thursday that the US is all set to help Jharkhand in the healthcare sector.
“Among many other frontiers, USA is working closely with India for improving overall healthcare sector here and to find solutions against transmittable and infectious diseases in and around Jharkhand. A Joint US-India Taskforce is already in place to work out a framework for healthcare professional exchange programme so that we find a permanent solution of a number of infectious diseases,” said Hall.
While addressing students and faculty members of Xavier Institute of Scoial Service (XISS) in Ranchi, Hall spoke at length about various aspects of Indo-US relationship which has seen a paradigm shift in last one decade. “The bilateral trade was merely of around $35 Billion, which has grown exponentially to reach at $105 Billion last year. We are eyeing a $500 Billion bilateral trade in another decade and can say that even that number is not enough keeping the size of both the economies in mind,” said Hall.
He threw light on the strengths of India-US relationship and highlighted the potential of it, which according to him bore possibilities to grow exponentially in near future. He firmly believed that Indo-US relationship at presently was stronger than it had ever been. “This relationship has grown to include not only the economic aspect but also health, military and education,” said Hall.
Hall quoted US President Barack Obama as saying, “US-India relationship could be the defining partnership relation in the world in 2016.” He said that the relation has been strong for quite some time and the strength of this relationship is further growing in the fields of military, outer-space, health, and higher education. He said that India and US were working on a Joint Mars Mission soon.
Describing ‘people to people’ contacts as the best possible tool to strengthen bilateral relationship, Hall said that both the countries were sharing strong emotional bonds at this front. He pointed out a number of educational exchange programmes to that are becoming building bricks of Indi-US relationships. “Many of these people ties are embedded in education part of the relationship. There is an average 30 per cent increase in the number of Indian students studying in the US every year. Students and faculty members need to explore the possibilities in the fields of research and education being carved out of the emerging US-India relationship,” he added.
Hall mentioned that Jharkhand was making a significant progress as per the Joint Report of World Bank and Government of India. Jharkhand has been ranked 3rd in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ among the Indian states in a survey, the results of which were declared by Central government as recently as last month. Hall emphasized on the need to put Jharkhand on the US map and increase the business opportunities for people both in India and the US.
“Once such instance where Jharkhand is emerging in a big way is in the field of healthcare where the US health scientists have been allowed to research in Jharkhand in the areas of identification and treatment of diseases like Tuberculosis, malaria and dengue-fever. To realize the dreams of India and the stat of Jharkhand, he emphasized on the role of education as a means to achieve it,” said Hall.
Replying to a question about BREXIT issue and how he saw its impact on India-US-Britain trilateral relationship, Hall said that it would not affect the relationship at all. “All three countries are deeply rooted democratic countries, each one has deeply rooted social values, and each one is an open market economy now. I believe that all the three countries are matured enough not to have any negative impact on them from BREXIT,” he said.
Addressing the issue of possible power shift in US, Hall said that the views of US Congress about India and those representing Indo-US interests in US Congress are strong enough to avert any possible chance to shift the direction of relationships of both the countries.