PATNA: Impressed with the functioning of Bihar government, the US would cooperate with the state in different spheres including agriculture, health, family welfare and education, said assistant secretary, south and central Asian affairs, US government, Robert O Blake, here on Saturday.
After meeting deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and leader of opposition in state assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui, the assistant secretary, who was on his maiden visit to the state, said he was very much impressed with the progress made by Bihar, specially in maintaining law and order and checking corruption. Blake said the best part is that the state has a responsive government. He said the US is very much keen on making investments in agriculture, food processing, energy, health and education.
Blake had also worked in the US embassy in Delhi as deputy chief-de-mission during the period 2003-06.
“Bihar has lots of potential. I am going back to US and will send a business delegation, which would explore the possibilities of cooperation in food processing, family welfare, developing infrastructure for agriculture and innovations in the field, climate change and polio eradication,” Blake said and added that this delegation would come either this year or early next year.
Accompanied by minister for counsellor for political affairs in the US embassy in Delhi, Herro K Mustafa, Blake said that Indo-US relations are on upswing and president Barack Obama is very much keen to take it to a higher level. “We consider India a very important friend,” Blake added.
He added that US attached much importance to education and was keen on cooperating in this sector. In order to cooperate in higher education and exchange of knowledge, a US-India summit on higher education will take place, possibly sometime in October this year. This summit will help in making contact between the people of the two nations who are engaged in higher education. This will bring in new and good ideas in the field, he added.
He appreciated the effort made by a Bihari boy who is producing electricity through rice husk and providing power to 25,000 families in rural Bihar. “It’s really great and we would love to help the state in whatever possible way,” Blake said.