US envoy repeats commitment to prevent Indian students’ deaths: ‘We care deeply’

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Friday renewed America’s commitment to prevent the latest spree of deaths of Indian students or those of Indian origin, in the country.

The US envoy acknowledged that there will “always going to be tragic incidents” given the US has more than 2,40,000 international students.

“But we want to try to get that number as close to zero as we can. And to give people help when there is a challenge they face or something that happens to make sure they are cared for just as they would be in their home, or community or in their own country,” Eric Garcetti told news agency ANI.

The US envoy said that America “deeply cares” for the well-being of every student, especially those arriving from other countries.

“We want to make sure that they have all the information, whether it is mental health care or physical safety, and that is one of the resources in all of our college campuses that we want to make sure that Indian students know about before they come to the USA,” Eric Garcetti further said.

In February, he said that the American government is “very committed” to ensuring that Indians know the US is a wonderful place to study and to be safe.

“We know tragedies will happen, it’s our responsibility to make sure that we work together with the Indian government and that people know what they can do. Our hearts go out to the families in any of these tragedies,” he added.

The US envoy’s statement came as the number of deaths of Indian students or Indian-origin people in America rose to 11 till April 2024. The latest incident happened earlier this week when two Indian students, both 19, were killed in US’s Arizona after a speeding vehicle ploughed into their car. Both the men were from Telangana.

On February 7, Syed Mazahir Ali, who hails from Hyderabad and is pursuing a master’s degree at Indiana Wesleyan University, was attacked and robbed of his phone by armed men in Chicago. In another incident in the same month, Vivek Saini, a 25-year-old Indian man studying for a master’s degree in Georgia, was fatally attacked by a homeless person inside a store where he worked. The assault, in which the man hit Saini 50 times with a hammer, was captured on video.

In February, the Lok Sabha was informed that as many as 403 incidents of deaths of Indian students overseas have been reported since 2018 due to multiple reasons, including natural causes, accidents and medical conditions, with Canada topping the list with 91 cases, followed by 48 in the UK.