India and US underline need for further deepening of bilateral ties
New Delhi: Amid global turmoil, India and the US on Friday underlined the need of further deepening of bilateral ties, saying it would yield significant economic benefits for both the countries.
Speaking at the US-India Businesses and Investment Opportunities event here, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said that India is an indispensable partner to the United States.
"That's particularly true today. I believe that these urgent challenges are bringing India and the United States closer together than ever before. Our partnership is especially crucial as India prepares to assume the G20 presidency. Over the next year, we look forward to supporting India's presidency and making progress on our shared global priorities," she said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her address at the meeting, outlined the sum and substance of the promise of India's continued resilience, its ongoing growth story, and the multitude of opportunities that India offers in times to come.
"Capitalising on the same, what I envisage and envision is a much deeper, broad-based, and mutually beneficial collaboration between the two countries," she said.
Yellen too said, "Deepening our bilateral ties will reap significant economic benefits for both of our nations. At a time of global turmoil, I also believe that it will bolster our countries' resilience and national security."
She further said the meeting is taking place at a moment when there are significant challenges for the global economy.
"The pandemic continues to exert a drag on economies across the globe. Putin's brutal war has claimed countless Ukrainian lives and livelihoods; it has also exacerbated food and energy insecurity across the world. Climate change continues to devastate communities with greater severity and frequency," she said.
Yellen also noted that the US is India's biggest trading partner and the bilateral trade has reached an all-time high of over USD 150 billion in 2021.
Direct investment from India in the US supported over 70,000 jobs at the end of 2020, she said.
A broad range of American companies – from Whirlpool to Boeing to GE – invest in India. And Indian technology firms like Infosys and Mindtree are critical to the day-to-day operations of many American corporations, Yellen added.
Sitharaman said that the Indian technology industry in the US has played a significant role in expanding the talent pool outside of traditional tech hub states.
This, she added, has contributed to some of these states, such as North Carolina, becoming emergent tech hubs.
The Indian tech industry directly and by supporting the US client base supported close to 1.6 million jobs and contributed about USD 198 billion to the US economy.
Sitharaman also invited investments from the US as she highlighted the opportunities available in India."I invite and call upon you, the stalwarts from business and prominent thought leaders, to participate in, and contribute to this vision of shared prosperity of India and the US," she said.
