we are pleased that president obama has nominated nancy howell to represent us in i understand yam -- represent us in india, she had has served tours of duty in india and bang la cdesh, she is one of our best and it is only appropriate that she be tasked with one of the state department's most important postings. i think ambassador powell would agree with me that the u.s. and india interests and values are converging today as perhaps never before and consequently america is an interested stakeholder in india's increasing assent to great economic and greater global power and participation. india's economy is projected to be the third largest in the near future and total trade between our countries reached 73 billion in 2010 and could exceed 100 billion this year. in defense, our security cooperation has grown and now india conducts more military exercises than any other country. education is fast become one of the strongest links between the nations. i'm looking forward to building on the progress we made last fall. whether it's helping india to build a network of community colleges or