US diplomat Marie Royce on Sunday said that India and the United States share strong ties including exchange programs in every area that bind the two countries. Marie Royce, who is US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), is in India to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Fulbright Program. She said that it is very important to preserve India’s antiquities and culture. “The reason I am here tonight is to celebrate Fulbright-Nehru (program) 70th anniversary promoting mutual understanding between our two countries. So, this created the people-to-people contact and make them (ties) even stronger,” Royce said on the sidelines of an event. “Our ties were have never been this stronger. We are also doing a number of cultural programs here in India through our Ambassador Funds for Cultural Preservation. It is very important for us to protect India’s antiquities and culture. We have an exchange program in every area. There are many ties that bind our two countries,” Royce added. Royce arrived here on January 28 for a week-long visit to celebrate Fulbright Program anniversary. Along with that, Royce said that she is here to promote Indian students coming to the US for studying. The US diplomat said that she had an excellent meeting with Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Secretary Amit Khare and discussed ways to increase the number of Americans visiting India for studies. “I had an opportunity to already met with human resources secretary. I would say we had a very successful meeting. We talked about having more Americans come to India which is a big part of my responsibility. I promote international student mobility,” she said.