Eric Garcetti, U.S. Ambassador to India, described being in the Oval Office at the White House with President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a defining moment of his tenure.
Speaking at the Taj Colaba in Mumbai on January 9, 2025, he shared, “I was in the Oval Office in one of the greatest moments of this ambassadorship. Somebody asked me, what were the high points of the last couple years? And I said certainly being in the Oval Office with Prime Minister Modi and President Biden, there’s just six of us. I realized nobody was taking notes…”
Garcetti joked, “I don’t think it’s the Nixon White House anymore, so I don’t think it was taped,” while making sure to record the historic conversation for posterity.
During that meeting, Garcetti recalled that President Biden told PM Modi emphasizing a technological revolution in the area of defense. President Biden said, “The next ten years will change how we fight wars and keep the peace more than the last hundred years has. That technologically, if you are not ready for change, you will be left behind.”
“The big system era isn’t over, but the small system, the networked war is upon us,” he said, emphasizing that the United States and India are uniquely positioned to grasp this shift and lead the way in building such systems effectively.
“India, where we have more brilliant IT engineers than any country in the world, where networks are what we build every single day in this country,” he added. “In the United States, where startup and entrepreneurial mindset is what’s defined our nation, the American Dream and the Indian Dream, I always say our flip sides of the same coin. We must define those technologies together.”
Highlighting defense collaboration, Garcetti underscored that the United States is now India’s top military exercise partner. Both nations have expanded joint military exercises in “scale and scope.”
“We are major defense partners. We are trusting each other, knowing each other, operating with each other more than ever before in our history. And vice versa Indians are purchasing U.S. systems at a rate never seen before,” he said.
He noted the impressive growth in U.S. defense exports to India, which rose from near zero in 2008 to over $25 billion in 2023. From Apache helicopters to C130 transport aircraft, he conveyed “We aren’t just selling systems to India we’re making systems with India. The United States ranked among the top three destinations for Indian defense exports as well. We know that this creates jobs here in India as well as jobs in America. And when we look at the work, the state-of-the-art systems.”
Garcetti expressed his view that the U.S.-India relationship is not merely additive but multiplicative. “It’s not India plus the U.S., but when we get together, it’s India times the U.S. Whether it’s developing vaccines, whether it’s looking at international trade, whether it’s the global commons, we aren’t countries that just think about what’s best for us and our people,” he said elaborating on both countries shared commitment to military, health, climate, and women’s empowerment, emphasizing their collective impact beyond borders.
“Peace is more than defense; it’s about maintenance and construction,” he said, framing the mission’s focus through the lens of four P’s: peace, pursuing and preserving peace; promoting prosperity; protecting our planet; and then pursuing the people-to-people ties.
Discussing the rapid progress of the Quad partnership, Garcetti highlighted the shared vision of the United States and India in responding to natural disasters across the Indo-Pacific. According to him, both are constitutional democracies founded on the dignity of every human being, and together both countries can champion a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
He also recalled a significant anti-trafficking conclave in March 2023 supported by the United States in New Delhi. The event convened officials from India’s government, civil society, and academia and resulted in “actionable steps,” to address cyber-enabled trafficking, protect victims, and promote justice.
Transnational challenges like drug trade, trafficking, and call center scams know no borders. Over the past two years, U.S.-India law enforcement cooperation has deepened.
“We are working together on combating the illicit drug trade. And I want to thank the Indian Navy for the work that it does to intercept here in the Indian Ocean, common threats, the way that we are able to take down Mexican drug cartels operating and creating drugs here in India,” he added. “And India most recently joined our alliance against the synthetic drugs that are being produced and killing. Now the number one killer of young Americans is fentanyl and India stepped up as a founding member.”
