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US secy of state John Kerry’s 3-day India visit to boost bilateral ties
The US secretary of state John Kerry and US commerce Penny Pritzker will be in New Delhi from Monday to Wednesday to chair the annual strategic and commercial dialogue to be co-chaired by the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The US secretary of state John Kerry and US commerce Penny Pritzker will be in New Delhi from Monday to Wednesday to chair the annual strategic and commercial dialogue to be co-chaired by the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The dialogue — a review of the entire gamut of bilateral relationship will take place on Tuesday.
Here’s what you need to know:
The India-US ties have become one of the most important relationships for the two countries in every aspect. Apart from the growing political and defence relationship, the ties have blossomed in other sectors as well.
In 2015, the bilateral trade reached $109 billion, which was $37 billion in 2005. The US investment in India reached more than $28 billion and India has invested more than $11 billion in the US. The US affiliates of Indian companies employ more than 52,000 workers in the US.
India would make a strong push for greater US support in getting a membership to the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) during the dialogue that would also focus on business ties, defence cooperation and clean energy initiatives.
The NSG bid is closely linked to its push for clean energy sources, an area where India-US cooperation is getting stronger. The US is also nudging India to ratify the ambitious 2015 Paris climate pact. However, the poll-bound US raises questions over how strong its push for India’s NSG bid could be.
Former US president George Bush called his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to get Beijing’s support for India getting a waiver at the NSG guidelines, imperative for the implementation of the India-US civil nuclear cooperation.
The two sides will also explore means for greater US participation in the Make in India flagship in the defence sector. They will review progress in the establishment of the Working Groups on Aircraft Carrier Technology and Jet Engine.
