universities they are great for our commerce look at the number of indianborn ceos of great companies based in america it is good for the american economy its great for the indian economy and its just good for civilisation too he saidsharing his connection with india garcetti said he first came to the country when he was 14 years old as a university student at 19 he started studying the teachings and writings of mahatma gandhi and saw its potential to not only transform the world but to inspire and touch our heartsand today while so much has changed since i was 19 years old one thing that has not changed is the sense of connection i feel not only to this place now and to the man who lived here with his family but to the aspirations of the indian people and the universal aspirations of all of us to live freely and to recognise the work of every human being he saidapart from visits to the old city of ahmedabad and the sabarmati ashram garcetti is scheduled to meet the state leadership and watch a t20 cricket match at the narendra modi stadium herehe said this is an amazing moment in the us and india relations a moment in which the two countries need to raise their ambitionsit doesnt matter where you come from it does not matter who your parents are it does not matter what religion you practice it does not matter what language you speakall that matters is the dreams in your hearts and working hard to achieve them and those dreams of india are being realised every single day he saidgarcetti said when he came to india at the age 14 the trade between india and the us was just two billion dollarstoday it is over 100 billion dollars and it us is the number one trading partner with india back then there were no defence cells zero dollars and now we are an important part of a mutual strategy to keep our people safe and protect the indopacific region together he saidcultural exchanges and influence the people of the two countries have on one another through hollywood bollywood and tollywood show the rich and deep ties between the two countries he said