US secretary of state Hillary Clinton used a public library in Chennai as a platform on Wednesday to emphasize India’s rise as a global power with a speech that, in particular, underlined the port city’s emergence as a knowledge and investment hub. The 40-minute address at the Anna Centenary library, south Asia’s largest public library, focused on India’s cultural and historical role in the Asia-Pacific region and its post-reforms growth, which in her own words, made it a natural choice to assume a greater role in regional affairs. “ Much of the history of the 21st century will be written in Asia. And much of the future of Asia will be shaped by decisions not just by the Indian government but by governments across India and by the 1.3 billion people who live in this country,” said Clinton. Clinton is the first highranking US official to visit Chennai in recent decades. Clinton said she chose the coastal city as she admired “what has been accomplished in the country in the last 18 years. “There is no better place to speak about Asia-Pacific than Chennai, which looks out onto the Bay of Bengal. Indian traders have sailed these waters for thousands of years and their influence can still be seen across the region – in the Tamil influences in the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia and in the Ganesha gods that guard homes in Indonesia”. “We are betting that the advances in science and technology made here will enrich lives everywhere. We are betting that India’s vibrant pluralistic society will inspire others to follow a similar path of tolerance. We are making this bet because we have watched your progress with great admiration,” she said, raising cheers and applause from the audience.
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