Trade is a challenge in relationship between India, US: Ambassador Shringla

International News

Trade is one of the challenges in the relationship between India and the US, a top Indian envoy said, exuding confidence that the two nations will soon be able to reach conclusions that are mutually beneficial and satisfactory.
"One of the issues (challenges) is trade. As the US seeks to recalibrate its trading relationships with not just India but with countries across the globe, we are happy to engage in that effort, Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla said at The Heritage Foundation think-tank on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump during their meetings in Osaka, Japan, in June on the margins of the G-20 Summit directed their officials to address issues related to trade, Shringla noted.
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are expected to meet soon in this regard, the ambassador said without indicating the dates.
That meeting would enable us to reach conclusions that are mutually beneficial and satisfactory, he said.
Observing that the two countries will have other issues like this as they go along, Shringla said, I have no doubt that we have both the mechanisms and the required political will to address these issues.
What is important that India-US is a strategic partnership and the momentum of that partnership has to be sustained, he asserted.
"It has to be seen in a long-term perspective and one that has the inerrant basis on which we can take this relationship forward," Shringla said.

 He asserted that this relationship should not be seen in a short-term perspective....Read More

India-US closing in on pact for defence technology transfer: Report

Company News

India and the United States are closing in on an industrial security agreement that will allow the transfer of defence technology, sources said on Monday, ahead of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s talks in New Delhi this week to promote strategic ties.
Disputes over trade and protectionist moves have escalated between the two countries in recent months, but defence ties remain strong with Washington seeking to build Indian capabilities as a counterweight to China.
India has bought weapons worth more than $15 billion from the United States over the past decade as it seeks to replace its Russian-origin military and is in talks for helicopters, armed drones and a bigger Indian plan for local production of combat planes together worth billions of dollars.
To allow for transfer of technology for building combat jets locally and other joint ventures, the United States had sought guarantees for the protection of classified information and technology.
A draft of the agreement called Industrial Security Annex is now ready and will go up before the Indian cabinet for approval in the next few weeks, sources aware of the India-US defence negotiations said.
It would be the first time New Delhi has entered into such a pact with any country, although the United States has such agreements in place with several countries, one of the sources said.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing are both in the race for a deal estimated at over $15 billion to supply the Indian air force with 114 fighter planes to replace its ageing fleet of Mig 21 jets.

 The planes have to be built in the country as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make-in-India drive to cut expensive imports and build a domestic industry.Pompeo will arrive in New Delhi on Tuesday and will hold talks with Modi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyan Jaishankar the following day.

Trump promoted strategic India-US relations in sustained manner: Report

International News

The Trump administration has worked to make India a more prominent part of its regional strategy, a top American think-tank has said in a report, lauding President Donald Trump for promoting strategic ties with India in a "sustained manner".

Asserting that the Trump administration has maintained the success story of US-India relations initiated by George W Bush, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in its report gives the US President a high B+ grade when it comes to America's ties with India.

The CFR in its special report Trump's Foreign Policy are Better Than They Seem said President Trump "deserves credit for promoting strategic ties with India in a sustained manner".

The Trump administration has worked to make India a more prominent part of its regional strategy. After changing the name of US Pacific Command to US Indo-Pacific Command in May 2018, the United States is now planning its first tri-service exercise with the Indian military, said the report authored by former US Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill.

President Trump's inclinations, as conveyed through his South Asia strategy, which accords primacy to India; his release of advanced weapons systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, for sale to New Delhi; and his decision to treat India on par with NATO allies where strategic technology release is concerned are all viewed as favourable toward India, it said.


The report said that New Delhi has accordingly responded with bold initiatives of its own."Although it has not entirely endorsed the Trump administration's Indo-Pacific strategy, it has applauded the strategy's declared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific regiona concept first articulated by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys an exceptionally close relationship," the CFR said.