MUMBAI, July 25 (UPI) -- India should work for greater gender equality, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday during a tour of one of the country's most prestigious universities.
"The future goes with the country that is most open and most representative of the entire population," Biden said, in a statement issued by the White House.
The vice president's comments were made as sexual assaults of Indian women have put the country's attitudes toward women's rights under a microscope.
"You're looking at India's future," Biden said after a 45-minute discussion with female students at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.
Pointing to five female doctoral students during a press conference, he said, "These women are as capable as any one of you men standing out there.
"We have to take advantage of the collective cognitive ability of our populations," Biden added, noting the U.S. is encouraging more women to become involved in science and technology.
Biden visited the university at the end of a four-day stop in India, shortly before he left for Singapore.
