Luncheon Meeting With Bangalore Aviation Community

Thank you very, very much for that gracious introduction.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for that warm applause. I am delighted to be in Bangalore today and delighted to be with all of you.

Let me also express my thanks to the Bangalore chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce for the hospitality that has been extended to me and to my colleagues from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It has been a busy day for me and my delegation here in Bangalore. We witnessed first-hand how India’s best and brightest are contributing to India’s future during a tour of the Indian Space Research Organization. We saw how American enterprise and Indian ingenuity are coming together to develop General Electric’s products of the future at the GE Jack Welch Technology Center.

And Minister for Industry and Infrastructure R.G.R. Sindhia briefed us on Karnataka’s ambitious plans to develop new infrastructure – including transportation infrastructure – to cope with Bangalore’s tremendous growth.
In all, the visit has shown me how much our two nation’s truly have in common – from a commitment to research and development, a passion for commerce and enterprise, and a shared dislike for traffic jams.

Yet for all we have in common, for far too long the United States and India were too distant – geographically, economically, and politically – to build the type of partnership befitting the world’s two largest democracies.

But today, our countries are no longer separated by distance, by economic activity or by political mindset. We are closer together – in every way imaginable – than we have ever been. We share common interests, tackle common challenges, and – increasingly – enjoy transportation systems that are linked.

Last July, I asked my Assistant Secretary for Aviation, Karan Bhatia, to travel to New Delhi to explore steps that we might take to address the shortage in direct air services between India and the United States. Yesterday – nine months later – in New Delhi, India’s Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel and I signed an Open Skies accord – a truly historic agreement that removes all barriers on air services between our two countries.

It will allow an unlimited number of U.S. carriers to serve an unlimited number of points in India – and will do the same for Indian carriers into the United States. It will allow carriers to charge whatever fares the market dictates, to structure their operations the way it makes sense for their business, to market their services through code share partnerships and alliances, and to establish hubs in both countries.

This agreement will result in more services, more options, more innovation, and lower prices. It will allow businessmen in Bangalore to get to Boston conveniently and at a reasonable cost, and help the parts supplier in Columbus to ship efficiently and reliably to Kolkata.

New services are already flooding into the market, and that is good news for cities like Bangalore. Northwest Airlines, for example, soon will start service between Minneapolis and Bangalore. And, just last week, Continental Airlines announced the first nonstop service ever between the United States and India, from New York to New Delhi. And I am convinced that this is only the tip of the iceberg – and that in future months we will see additional new services by both Indian and American carriers.

More passengers flying on more planes to more cities requires, of course, more airport and air traffic capacity. India must expand its aviation capacity to take advantage of all that Open Skies have to offer. And I am here to say that the United States is committed to helping India realize its full potential by building new partnerships to develop and grow transportation infrastructure.

That commitment will take many forms. For example, just yesterday I signed a new memorandum of cooperation between the U.S. and India to promote the exchange of science and technology in the area of maritime transportation. I also concluded and signed an agreement with the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways to provide for joint efforts to improve surface transportation, including highways, rapid transit systems and disabled access.
I expect that our two countries soon will sign a new agreement to facilitate the kinds of information and technology exchanges needed to support cooperation in global navigation systems, air traffic control, airport infrastructure, and aircraft certification.

And I look forward to finding new ways to expand our cooperation in the area of road traffic safety. Yesterday, Dr. Jeffrey Runge, the Administrator of our National Highway Traffic Safety Administration met with the Department of Road Transport and Highways to establish a relationship to work together to combat road traffic fatalities in our respective countries.

In both our countries, we lose far too many people in traffic deaths – almost 43,000 in the United States and an estimated 100,000 in India. We can, we must, and we will take action to address this tragic and needless loss of life.
Our partnership goes beyond cooperation between governments. Increasingly, it is based on the activities of private citizens and businesses.

Yesterday, for example, I announced the creation of the U.S.-India Aviation Cooperation Program. This new partnership is bringing the United States government and private sector together with the Indian government and aviation community to support initiatives such as technical assistance, jobs training, and personnel exchanges.

And here in Bangalore, government officials are working in tandem with the private sector to begin construction soon of a new international airport befitting this magnificent, thriving city.

Despite the region’s impressive economic development, metropolitan Bangalore remains underserved when it comes to international travel options. So it is fitting that this thriving center of commerce is channeling the energy of free enterprise and the capability of civil servants to put this city on the international aviation map.
Bangalore – the Silicon Valley of India – ranks right up there among the fastest growing cities in Asia.

Yet many business commentators have stated time and again that Bangalore must improve its international airport facilities if it expects to continue to expand as a center of commerce and a destination for tourists.

I learned just how important air service is to the growth of a community many years ago when I first got involved in politics. My first elected office was to the City Council in San Jose, California – America’s Silicon Valley – where I was the liaison to the Airport Commission.

We had to work long and hard to bring commercial airline service to our city, but we did.
And once the airplanes started flying in and out of our city, San Jose’s economy just took off, if you will pardon the expression.

Later on, when I became the Mayor of San Jose, the expansion of our airport was probably the biggest issue that I faced. And as our air service increased, we decided to buy about 150 or so homes that were in the flight pattern.

A group of mortuary owners then approached me about building a cemetery right on the approach pattern to the airport. After taking some time to think it over, I told them that I didn’t think a cemetery would be a good idea.

One of my chief concerns was that it would bring new meaning to the pilots’ phrase, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now making our final approach to San Jose Airport.”

We succeeded in expanding the airport and attracting new service. And San Jose has become an incredible engine of growth and a tremendous center of innovation.

Much like San Jose, Bangalore is an economic success story that – to continue its incredible growth – must expand capacity by improving its international connections.

Indeed, the future has much in store for Bangalore, and Bangalore has much in store for the future.

A new international airport, coupled with the kind of air service that our new Open Skies agreement will bring about, means that even better days lie ahead for travelers to Bangalore, the economies of our two countries, and the relationship between the U.S. and India.

Let me conclude this afternoon by trying to put our new air services agreement and new cooperative initiatives in the context of U.S.-India relations more broadly. The growth of the U.S.-India relationship has been a priority for President Bush over the past four years. As a result, today India figures prominently in the thinking of America’s policymakers, in the strategy of America’s business leaders and in the plans of America’s travelers. It is a relationship that we are determined to continue to grow.

As Secretary Rice made clear in her visit to India last month, America is committed to a long-lasting, deep and broad relationship with India, and to helping it become a world class power in the 21st Century.

Improving the bilateral transportation relationship between the United States and India is an important part of that commitment – important because closer transportation cooperation will expand India’s economy, support American businesses, and strengthen the ties that bind us together.

Thanks to all of you for taking time from your busy schedules to be here.