The Ambassador has witnessed India’s relationship with the US for over two and half decades, starting with his first stint in Washington in 1997, a year before India conducted the nuclear test. “I saw the US sanctions as well as their removal.’’
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Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s Ambassador to the US, is optimistic about India-US relations, reported indianexpress. The Ambassador was speaking to public policy and international relations researchers at the Institute of Development and Communication at the beginning of this week.
“This is an important moment in the Indo-US ties. We are doing a record trade of USD 160 billion, making US the largest trading partner of the country, and that is just the tip of the iceberg,” Sandhu was quoted saying.
The Ambassador has witnessed India’s relationship with the US for over two and half decades, starting with his first stint in Washington in 1997, a year before India conducted the nuclear test. “I saw the US sanctions as well as their removal,’’ said Sandhu.
He was in the US when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on his maiden US visit. “The PM’s first visit to Madison Square Garden was very useful, then President Barrack Obama personally took him to the Martin Luther King memorial. His second visit in 2015 was very IT-focused,’’ said Sandhu remembering the dinner PM Modi had with six top CEOs of tech companies, four of them Indians.
Regardless of India’s stand on Ukraine, the relationship, said the Ambassador, was moving ahead. “We see things from a negative and conspiracy angle…There have been three physical meetings between President Biden and PM Modi in a year besides several virtual interactions…”
“Learn from the past but keep your eyes trained on the future. And build alliances on essentials,’’ said the Ambassador.
Sandhu, the report pointed out, sees bilateral ties developing in five broad areas: defence and strategy, health, technology, energy, and education. He said Indian tech companies contribute 80 billion dollars to the US GDP. “Whenever any company gets an Indian on board, its value goes up,’’ said the Ambassador.
He also spoke about Indo-US ties in the health sector. “Rotavirus vaccine was developed by the US, but its cost came down from USD 60 to 1 when an Indian company began to manufacture it,’’ Sandhu said and even pointed out how India is also bulk producing a Coronavirus vaccine developed in Texas. He went on point out that it was “during Covid in 2021 that President Joe Biden called India a reliable partner. And be it the US Congress, administration or military, everyone was very clear that Covid cannot be allowed to defeat India.’’
Regardless of India’s stand on Ukraine, the relationship, said the Ambassador, was moving ahead. “We see things from a negative and conspiracy angle…There have been three physical meetings between President Biden and PM Modi in a year besides several virtual interactions…”
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