Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he was looking forward to his meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington for an in-depth exchange of views on further consolidating the robust and wide-ranging partnership between India and the United States. The two leaders will give a further push towards strengthening the strategic bilateral relationship.
Manufacturers are watching closely and pressing for a dialogue that centers on promoting economic growth and reforms that will lead to tangible and lasting improvements to India's challenging business environment.
"We are pleased that the USA government has cleared the way for the sale of the MQ-9B Guardian to the Indian Government", said Linden Blue, CEO of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, in a statement to Defense News.
"I think they're going to find a lot of common ground in their discussions, both personally and in terms of the strategic partnership", said the senior administration official. The press will not be allowed to ask questions during the joint press appearance of Trump and Modi, the official said, adding that the request had been made from the Indian side.
Actions, however, speak louder than words.
Modi would visit Portugal on June 24 and the Netherlands on June 27. Openings in foreign investment notwithstanding, India's continued embrace of its government-funded public sector enterprises continues to disturb foreign investors and stifle the domestic private sector.
Modi is likely to lobby Trump on visas for tech workers when they meet on June 26. The Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh could be the first participants along with counterparts like California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, to name a few based on interests in trade as well as diaspora links.
"I look forward to engaging with the Indian community in the Netherlands", Modi said.
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It had been concerned about the potential destabilising impact of introducing high-tech drones into South Asia, where tensions are simmering between India and Pakistan, particularly over Kashmir, which is divided between them. These longstanding trade barriers take a major toll on the trade relationship. Besides Taliban, the region has seen the rise of terror outfit, Islamic State's Khorasan chapter, which has caused tremendous unease among countries including Russian Federation forcing it to open a channel with the Taliban.
He said India-US ties were "very robust" with the bilateral trade crossing almost 150 billion dollars and several US companies have their strong presence in India.
Other strains have emerged in U.S. -India relations, with the United States vexed by a growing bilateral trade deficit and Trump accusing New Delhi of negotiating unscrupulously at the Paris climate talks to walk away with billions in aid.
After the USA pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Trump accused India of trying to extract "billions and billions" of dollars in foreign aid in exchange for signing the accord. "And in the afternoon, we have the official engagement with President Trump", he added.
This inaugural meeting between the two leaders will test the waters, but Srikanth Kondapalli of Jawaharlal Nehru University told DW that given the "inward-looking policies" of the Trump administration reflected in the USA withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate deal, Modi's visit would "likely include specific bilateral issues", adding that "larger strategic issues would possibly not appear in the public domain".
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.
Linda Dempsey is the vice president of worldwide economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers, the nation's largest manufacturing industrial trade association.
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