Ambassador Nirupama Rao met Mayor of the District of Columbia, Mr. Vincent Gray on 8th March 2012. Also present at the meeting were Mr. Natwar Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia and Ms. Cynthia Brock-Smith, Secretary of the District of Columbia.
Welcoming the Ambassador, Mayor Gray apprised her of the activities of the city administration and said that Washington is focusing on technological development, education, law & order, employment generation etc. He spoke about the establishment of a Community College in the District spread over 4 campuses, providing technical education to train youth for employment and noted that enrolment in this college actually exceeds the trend of enrolment in the "4 year University courses". The Mayor expressed keen interest in increasing cooperation between the District and India.
Ambassador informed the Mayor of the excellent progress in India-US bilateral relations and the priorities of the Government of India in meeting its developmental goals. She hoped that there could be greater cooperation in the field of education between the District and India. Touching on business relations, Ambassador referred to the gamut of India's commercial relationship with the United States including investments in 43 states of the US by Indian companies and the job creation taking place in the United States because of these investments. The Mayor said he hoped that more Indian companies would be drawn to the District of Columbia as the City welcomed such investment.
Ambassador invited the Mayor to visit India during which time the possibility of establishing closer linkages between Washington and New Delhi as capitals of two great democracies could be seriously explored. The Mayor said he greatly looked forward to his visit at a mutually convenient date.
It was also decided to explore the possibility of the Embassy of India and the District of Columbia jointly organizing an event to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
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