Howard University has played an important role in building bonds between India and US: Blinken

Washington, April 13

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The Howard University, a prestigious black research varsity in the American capital, has played an important role in building bonds between India and the US, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

A day after the India-US 2+2 ministerial, Blinken along with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar appeared at the sprawling campus of the university on Tuesday to talk about how to deepen the educational ties between India and the United States.

Notably, Vice President Kamala Harris studied here.

“As I’ve come to learn and as we heard a little bit about, throughout its history, this institution has played an important role in building bonds between our countries,” Blinken said in his interaction with the students of the university.

“Glad to join @ECA_AS Satterfield and my friend @DrSJaishankar at @HowardU today to discuss our joint effort on education and skill development with Indian and American students and educators. These deep people-to-people ties are central to the strong link between our nations,” Blinken tweeted on Wednesday.

Glad to join @ECA_AS Satterfield and my friend @DrSJaishankar at @HowardU today to discuss our joint effort on education and skill development with Indian and American students and educators. These deep people-to-people ties are central to the strong link between our nations. pic.twitter.com/IvZpCQuZo1

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 13, 2022

Responding to this, Jaishankar said that he was pleased to participate in the conversation with Blinken.

“Pleased to participate in this conversation with my friend @SecBlinken. The Working Group on Education and Skill Development will further enhance opportunities for #IndiaUS cooperation,” Jaishankar tweeted.

Pleased to participate in this conversation with my friend @SecBlinken.

The Working Group on Education and Skill Development will further enhance opportunities for #IndiaUS cooperation. https://t.co/hVCXIurOMw

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 13, 2022

Bringing to the fore, some of the little-known facts were told to the students that way back in 1935, the then dean Howard Thurman led a four-member delegation on what was a month-long pilgrimage to India.

“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.

“That’s why we see our cultural and educational ties continue to grow every single year,” he said. “We are incredibly fortunate in the United States to have two lakh Indians studying at our universities, enriching our campuses, enriching our fellow citizens,” he added.

After the 2+2, the two countries announced a working group on education and skill training, which will bring academic institutions in the United States and India together to develop new joint research programs, he said.

“The group will also focus on creating more opportunities for universities to partner on exchange programs that Assistant Secretary Satterfield runs so that ultimately more of our people can learn alongside each other,” he said.

Welcoming Jaishankar and Blinken at the historic Founders Library, Anthony Wutoh, provost and chief academic officer of Howard University said that the library is the home of the university’s museum and Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, one of the world’s largest repositories dedicated to the history and culture of people of African descent.

“It is also home to the bust of Mahatma Gandhi, the government of India gave to Martin Luther King when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. The King family donated it to Howard University upon his death,” he said.

“It is fitting that Howard is the setting to celebrate the educational and cultural exchanges that undergird the strong bilateral relationship between India and the United States of America,” he said.

“Indian and Indian American students and faculty have called Howard alma-mater since the turn of the last century, including perhaps our most celebrated Indian-American alumna, Vice President Kamala Harris,” Wutoh said adding that this year, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research and Howard University celebrated the 10th anniversary of their partnership.