Getting US consulate in B'luru issue visas 'sooner' my top priority when I visit US: Jaishankar
Bengaluru (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted on Friday that the opening of "long-in-waiting" US consulate in Bengaluru was the "very important milestone" in the bilateral ties and urged the American authorities to ensure that the mission starts visa operations at the earliest.
"This will be my number one talking point with Secretary (of State Nominee Marco) Rubio when I go and see him. The sooner we get it done, the better it is," said Jaishankar.
The External Minister was in Bengaluru today to attend the "site dedication ceremony" of the fifth United States consulate in India, which will start operating in Bengaluru soon.
Delivering his speech, Eric Garcetti, US Ambassador to India, said the consulate in Bengaluru will not be offering visa services for the time being.
In his speech, Jaishankar pointed to statistics to nudge the US to get around to issuing visas from Bengaluru as early as possible.
"I was checking figures, and was very glad to see that last year, the RPO (Regional Passport Office) Bengaluru issued 8,83,000 passports. That's just for one year. Do the math, and you will see how important it is to ensure that travel is smooth," added Jaishankar.
He also added that there are three flights every week from here to San Francisco. "Hopefully, if Boeing and Airbus deliver, there'd be more. I think that's a legitimate expectation," said Jaishankar.
Jaishankar said a US consulate in Bengaluru has been "long-in-waiting".
"One, which I believe, Bengaluru legitimately deserved and expected," he added.
"I think Bengaluru has such an important place that it was for me an imperative that there is a permanent resident presence of American diplomats here," said Jaishankar.
He also said every time he had visited the city in the last five years, there was always somebody who would ask him, 'so, when is that consulate coming?'.
"It was from, really, I would say, the cross section of the society. It was from businessmen; it was from the tech world; it was from academics. It was even from people you would meet in a restaurant," added Jaishankar.
According to him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2023 had brought up the issue of opening a consulate in Bengaluru when he visited the US.
He also said India had promised to open a consulate in Los Angeles if the United States "get the Bengaluru consulate done". He said now, with the opening of the consulate, collaborations in defence and education would reach new heights.
"I think the formal opening of this consulate is one more sign that we are overcoming the hesitations of history. It is now within our grasp, within the realm of possibility, that we realise more fully the potential of India-US relations. And I think it is important that Bengaluru too realises its potential in the relationship," said Jaishankar.
In his address, US Ambassador Garcetti, who would be relinquishing his responsibility in India soon, said he was glad that getting a consulate up and running in Bengaluru would be his last task in India.
"You know, our relationship in India is not new. Our second consulate in the world was here in India. After the independence of a new America in 1776, we opened a consulate in Lyon, France, and then the second was in Kolkata, showing, back then, the importance of India to a new American nation," said Garcetti.
India, said Garcetti, is now the second largest mission of America anywhere in the world.
"It produces the second most visas, the most students we're breaking records every single year 'record employees, record visas, record students, record military exercises, record engagement from the seabed to space," added Garcetti.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who was also present during the "site dedication ceremony" said the opening of the consulate in Bengaluru is a testament to the growing importance of Karnataka in the global stage.
"Nowadays, the world is looking at India through Bengaluru. We know there are a lot of hiccups there, as Bengaluru is not a well-planned city. But still the city has proved itself to be the safest city in the entire country for the global firms to have their headquarters," said Shivakumar.
Other dignitaries present for the ceremony include MP Tejasvi Surya, Karnataka's Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development M B Patil, Minister for IT & BT Priyank Kharge.
Several entrepreneurs from the city, including Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited, had also attended the 'site dedication ceremony'.
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Cong claims BJP govts got its 9 AI videos deleted, calls it 'blatant misuse' of rules
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Thursday claimed that nine of its videos created using artificial intelligence have been "forcefully deleted" by BJP governments at the Centre and in states, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should work in the nation's interest instead of "curbing" every voice of dissent.
The opposition party alleged that the deletion of the videos was a "blatant misuse" of the blocking rules against political adversaries and that there was a complete lack of transparency in the process.
There was no immediate response from the government or the BJP to the Congress' allegations.
Congress social media department head Supriya Shrinate alleged that the Modi government has left no stone unturned in strangling India's artificial intelligence (AI) potential.
"First, by handing over all our data to America in the trade deal, and now, amid the embarrassing mismanagement at the ongoing AI summit and the shameful revelations of theft and imitation that have tarnished India's image.
"But ironically, the same Narendra Modi, who makes grand statements about AI, actually fears artificial intelligence," she said at a press conference here.
In the last six weeks, nine videos created by the Congress using AI have been "forcefully deleted" by the "coward" prime minister, his central and BJP state governments, Shrinate claimed.
"Let me make it absolutely clear (that) all these videos carried the legally required AI disclaimer. Throughout the entire duration of the videos, 'AI-generated video' is prominently displayed at the top, which clearly proves that there was no attempt to mislead or deceive anyone," she said.
Yet, Prime Minister Modi himself and the BJP are so terrified of the truth that they are even afraid of its dramatic AI representation, she claimed.
"These videos show how cowardly Prime Minister Modi turned his back on his responsibility by telling General Naravane and the Army... How Modi compromised India's national interest while pursuing a trade deal with America," Shrinate said.
She claimed that some deletion orders for these AI videos were sent to social media platforms by police in BJP-ruled states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra while some came directly from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
"This is blatant misuse of the blocking and the IT Rules, 2021, against political adversaries. There is a complete lack of transparency on why a video is being taken down, there is no public order but complete secrecy. Which is why there is no ground for challenging these blockings and deletions in court. At least tell us what was illegal in these videos, what has been violated," Shrinate said.
"This is how authoritarian regimes work -- by giving orders to social media platforms to take down or block content arbitrarily in complete secrecy," she said.
The Congress leader said she welcomes curbing deep fakes and asked if political satires with AI disclaimers are the same.
"Is the government objecting to political satire and commentary on the prime minister which is perfectly legitimate in any democracy?" she asked.
Amid the controversy over Galgotias University displaying a made-in-China robotic dog as its own innovation at the India AI Impact Summit, Shrinate asked when the PM can pass off others' work as his own and rename Congress schemes to fool people, why wouldn't the rest of the country do the same.
"When the prime minister spends the whole day spouting rhetoric, those who steal and imitate are emboldened. When scientific temper is abandoned and superstition and delusions are encouraged, robots will not be built, they will just be bought from China.
"Imitation is not innovation, but does the government care? Modi ji, no matter what you say, your legacy is that private university which has brought us global shame," she said.
"Instead of getting AI videos deleted and curbing every voice of dissent and disagreement, PM Modi, you should work in the nation's interest, stop bowing before America, talk about farmers' rights, don't run away from Parliament, throw out your minister who has connections with a monster like Epstein, and stop compromising the country for Adani," Shrinate said.
