United States Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday addressed IIT-Delhi students in the national capital.
Kerry was scheduled for a talk with the students at 10 am but was delayed as heavy rains lashed the National Capital Region, and arrived at the venue closer to 11 am.
Kerry began his speech with a much-deserved taunt for the Delhi-Gurugram civic bodies by drain shaming India. "Don't know how you all got here. You must have needed boats to get here," he said wryly.
During his speech, he spoke about issues related to India-US ties, free speech, terrorism, Pakistan and the US elections. Here are some highlights of his speech.
1.
The beauty of India and the US is our history of making the impossible a reality
2.
The deep cooperation between India and the US matters to both our countries but also to the rest of the world
3.
Terror groups like Daesh (Islamic State), Al Qaeda, LeT (Lashkar-e-Tayiba), JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) can't be fought by a single nation alone.
4.
It's clear that Pakistan has work to do in order to push harder against its indigenous groups that are engaged in terrorist activities
5.
Pakistan must work with us to help clear the sanctuary of bad actors who are affecting not only India-Pakistan relationship but also our ability to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan
6.
As people define a great religion, Islam, in a way that doesn't reflect that religion (then) they steal it, hijack it
7.
When they (Pakistan) do action there's usually pretty intense push back & blow back which makes it harder.
8.
In fairness Pakistan has suffered greatly from the terrorism in their own country. More than 50,000 people have been killed
9.
There have been communication (between India and Pakistan). That's the way to begin process
10.
Must credit Prime Minister Narendra Modi who extended the invite (for his oath-taking ceremony in May 2014) to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
11.
You have to rely on the good judgement of American people. Period (When asked a question regarding Donald Trump)
12.
Polarisation anywhere is not good. It reflects intolerance, it reflects frustration with governance
13.
There is no military solution to the dispute in South China Sea, but the US will stand up for its allies
14.
We must strike at the root causes of violent extremism and we have to work hard to understand different variations of causes
15.
We have to respect the rights of all our citizens irrespective of creed and allow them to protest in peace without fear that they will be jailed for speaking up
Photograph: MEA/Facebook
