The State Visit highlighted important steps in trade resolutions as the U.S. and India agreed to resolve six separate trade disputes at the World Trade Organization, including President Trump’s previous tariffs on steel and aluminum and India’s retaliatory duties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent State Visit to the US has been a resounding success, garnering significant attention as India holds the G20 presidency amidst the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, impacting global food and energy security.

Dr Mukesh Aghi, President & CEO of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), shared his insights with Huma Siddiqui on the visit and the inked deals, shedding light on the visit’s significance and the robust agreements achieved in critical and emerging technologies and defence.

Following are edited excerpts.

How successful do you think the visit was in acknowledging the recent diplomatic issues?

The visit was symbolic and only the third state visit for an Indian leader, the last being in 2009 and the third state visit hosted by the Biden administration. So, this clearly reflected the importance of India and India’s place in the world for the Biden Administration.

But beyond the ceremonial festivities, the visit was extremely successful and elevated the strategic partnership to the next level with robust agreements in critical and emerging technologies and defense particularly. The deals pertaining to jet engines, drones, semiconductor investments, working together from the seas to the stars from joint-space cooperation, and enhanced underwater domain awareness. The priorities are also towards a clean energy future, building new resilient supply chains as India ramps up its manufacturing potential. The US-India partnership remains committed to a peaceful end to hostilities in Eastern Europe and securing a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The US wants India to be weaned away from Russia and has been offering all sorts of technologies to India. Will it really happen without any riders?

The priority is to secure a clean energy future and one where American investment in India’s clean energy potential will wean India of needing Russian energy imports. Presently India imports oil from Russia factoring in India’s energy security priorities. But gradual steps are being made and the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership between India and the United States. These are the steps in the right direction, as it works towards energy security and electrification. It’s a gradual process and needs to be done in phases. Washington understands New Delhi’s energy priorities and understands New Delhi is firmly aligned with Washington’s geopolitical priorities in the Indo-Pacific as Beijing increases its hostilities. So, India’s energy imports are purely for its own energy security and will not dampen the strong partnership with Washington.

How dependent should India be on the US, even though most of the agreements signed have not yet become fully operational?

India is the fastest growing economy and now the largest populous nation on the planet. India needs to add 12-15 million jobs a year in order to remain competitive and add new jobs to those joining the workforce. Services alone can’t solve this and need to focus on manufacturing sectors as well. For this to happen, the bulk of the investments need to come in from American companies and investors. The United States is the largest economy and the synergy between the US and India is strong in areas like tech, energy, defense, and healthcare. Prime Minister Modi’s government has worked to improve the business environment. Examples like the Air India-Boeing deal, and Apple opening its first retail store in India are strong examples of the strength of the commercial relationship.

These are also examples of the growing strength of the manufacturing economy, as it sends a signal to American high-tech multinationals to come and “Make in India”. India is working to build its manufacturing economy, especially for cutting-edge tech products. The other priorities for both Washington and New Delhi are to build supply chain resilience and diversify supply chains away from China as companies in boardrooms look at a China-plus-one strategy.

The India-US Trade Agreement has not happened. Your views?

The State Visit highlighted important steps in trade resolutions as the U.S. and India agreed to resolve six separate trade disputes at the World Trade Organization, including President Trump’s previous tariffs on steel and aluminum and India’s retaliatory duties. While there is no existing trade agreement, the signs are still auspicious as India and the US have restarted the Trade Policy Forum (TPF) to solve existing issues. One needs to understand that diplomatic ties are not concurrent with trade relations. Even the US and Canada which share excellent diplomatic ties can spar over trade issues. India has signed several FTAs with countries like the UAE and Australia and is working on trade deals with the UK, so the current government is removing some of the previous protectionist tendencies that were evinced in India. We are seeing gradual opening with mangoes, pomegranates from India coming to the US and pork and hay coming from the US.

New Delhi has also agreed to remove retaliatory tariffs on certain US products, agricultural primarily in chickpeas, lentils, almonds, walnuts, and apples. So, as you can see, there is no boiling the ocean strategy, but gradual phases of removing existing barriers that will pave the way for a more auspicious trade environment and then perhaps we can speak of larger trade deals.

https://www.financialexpress.com/business/defence-exclusive-us-india-strategic-partnership-forum-ceo-says-modis-us-visit-paves-way-for-robust-deals-and-strategic-partnership-3180844/