India's US ambassador says there's new dynamism in bilateral ties

Washington: A new dynamism has emerged in the India-US relationship which is headed towards the next level, India's top envoy here has said, citing geopolitics and economic partnership as reasons that provided a big fillip to bilateral ties.

Addressing the 30th-anniversary celebrations of the Indian American International Chamber of Commerce here, ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu said India’s domestic capabilities have been a key factor in this dynamism.

"Over the last few years, the economic partnership has really accelerated. When I joined as ambassador in 2020, India's US trade stood at approximately USD 146 billion. Last year, it crossed USD 190 billion, a remarkable increase of 30 per cent in just three years, despite COVID and no FTA (free trade agreement),” he said.

Observing that geopolitics has been a factor in shaping this dynamism, Sandhu said the Covid-19 pandemic was a wakeup call to the industry, a realisation that there can no longer be business as usual, especially when it came to global supply chains and risk of concentrating manufacturing.

"More than 2,000 US companies are seeking to expand their presence in India, while more than 200 Indian companies are present in all the 50 States of the United States. India’s domestic capabilities have been a key factor in this dynamism,” he said.

India is the fifth largest economy of the world and has been consistently ranked as amongst the highest growing economies amongst large countries, he added.

Participating in another panel discussion of the conference, Aman Sinha, Senior Attorney of the Supreme Court and the BJP spokesperson, said India and the US were two countries that have gone out of their way to even help the global community.

“We have seen in pandemic time, the crisis times, if there were two countries which stood out and helped the global community apart from serving the citizens domestically, it was in the United States of America,” Sinha said, as he referred to the global help and assistance provided by India and the US during the Covid-19 crisis.

Responding to a question from former US Congressman Ed Royce, Sinha said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India, in the last eight years, has addressed the fundamental problems of the Indian society and economy which were unaddressed for a long time.

“Let me tell you that each and every Indian citizen has virtually access to 100 per cent electricity, potable drinking water, more than 50 crores banking accounts have been opened. Some of the biggest welfare schemes have been ushered in eight to nine years. More than 100 such schemes have emanated from India,” he said.

As a result of these reforms, the fundamental problems which were confronting the Indian society and Indian economy have been addressed and the potential and aspirations of each and every citizen has been unleashed, he said.

“Therefore, you are seeing a multiplier effect of all that coming in and now this momentum is going to stay,” Sinha said.