New Delhi: US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Tuesday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and "transformative policies" initiated by his government and said the two countries are increasing their collaboration around critical emerging technologies.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the US-India 5G and Next Generation Networks Workshop, Garcetti said 5G presents a fantastic opportunity to collaborate towards an open, accessible, and secure technology ecosystem, built on shared values and shared systems.

"India is in such wonderful hands. With your leadership, with the transformative policies that you and this administration are implementing together with the public sector and private sector and with that community aspect that defines everything that is part of India's rise right now. This is the most exciting nexus in the world, The US-India relationship is where it is at," he said.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is hosting the workshop. US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti and Department of Telecommunications Secretary K Rajaraman kicked off the workshop with over 150 senior Indian and US government and private sector participants.

The event is being attended by leading industry experts and officials to exchange information on approaches, solutions and applications of 5G and next-generation networks in India and highlight new opportunities for US-India technical and commercial cooperation in the sector and expand strategic technology partnership, an important element of the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET).

Garcetti said 5G is an important part of the United States' and India's shared efforts to build a resilient economy for now and for the future.

"To foster an open, accessible, and secure technology ecosystem, we must ensure that our shared values fuel our shared decisions. Events like today's workshop allow us to build mutual trust and confidence, allowing us to turn ideas into action."

Sharing his recent experience at Select USA Summit, he talked about the growing US-India relations as it had the largest Indian delegation.

"The biggest number one delegation, first time in history came from right here in India. Over 240 different business delegations, some of whom are here today, who made the trip, who travelled from all parts of India in everything from steel and precious metals to looking at real estate, investments, technology, telecoms, agriculture, we saw a profound desire for our people to come together even more closely. And that's really what we're talking about here today," he said.

Speaking on the upcoming visit of PM Modi to the US, he talked about technology cooperation between the two countries.

"Our National Security Advisor is in preparation for the visit of the Prime Minister for a State visit next month to Washington,DC - collaborating intensely around critical emerging technologies...It's technology that connects, protects and detects. We know that the backbone of this is 5G."

PM Narendra Modi will embark on an official state visit to the US on June 22. During his visit, PM Modi will be hosted by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at a state dinner at the White House.

In a a tweet later, Garcetti said 5G & Next Generation Networks workshop would advance a key component of the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical Emerging Technology (iCET)

"I am so excited to attend the U.S.-India 5G & Next Generation Networks workshop to advance a key component of the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical Emerging Technology (iCET)! 5G presents a fantastic opportunity to collaborate towards an open, accessible, and secure technology ecosystem, built on shared values and shared systems. Looking forward to #USIndia technical and commercial cooperation in this transformative sector," he said.