India, US hold key trade meeting to boost ties

Washington, Oct 30: India and the US held a key trade meeting here that focussed on translating "enhanced" engagement into tangible results amid a "high bar" of relationship set by their top leadership.

"Our work this week under the Trade Policy Forum (TPF) focussed on translating engagement into tangible results that will increase the pace of trade growth between our economies," US Trade Representative Michael Froman said.

Froman was speaking at a reception hosted in honour of Nirmala Sitharaman - Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Commerce & Industry, as well as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs under the Finance Ministry - by the US India Business Council (USIBC). The two co-chaired the ninth India US Trade Policy Forum meeting.

"To that end, Minister Sitharaman and I focussed our work on forward looking policy initiatives in intellectual property, manufacturing, agriculture and services that can expand trade and investment and benefit our manufacturers, workers, innovators, service providers, farmers, and ranchers," Froman said.

"We have seen enhanced engagement between the United States and India in the course of the past year, with a high bar set by President (Barack) Obama and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Sitharaman congratulated Froman on the successful conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after eight years of painstaking efforts.

"The US-India Trade Policy Forum was an intense engagement, one which we can say with confidence is moving forward with a lot of positive outcomes," she said.

The TPF represents another important step towards strengthened trade relations between the US and India, said USIBC president Mukesh Aghi.

India is growing to be one of the most open economies in the world today and USIBC member companies are excited by the opportunity to grow the bilateral trade five-fold, he said.

Increasing FDI projects in sectors like manufacturing, defence, Smart Cities and clean technology along with positive environment fostered by initiatives like 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' are proving to be game-changers and creating jobs for the Indian economy, Aghi said.

PTI