‘PM Modi, President Trump have a very strong relationship, deep respect for each other’: Ambassador Kwatra
He made these remarks while speaking at the New India Conference of the Hudson Institute.
Ambassador Kwatra, while explaining the government-to-government connection between India and the US, said: “Prime Minister Modi is on our side and President Trump. Both of them have a very strong relationship, deep respect for each other, even friendship. This translates into a wide-ranging cooperation between the two countries.”
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He also spoke about the plurilateral initiatives between the two countries with an emphasis on QUAD and IMEC and also recalled the India-US 10-year defense framework, which was signed last year.
He noted that trade is one of the strongest parts of the partnership.
“We have the largest bilateral capital flows between our two economies… We are currently around $200 billion annually and the target announced during the Prime Minister’s visit to the White House in February last year is to achieve Mission 500, which is $500 billion by the end of this decade.”Social intelligence are some of the areas where there is a strong sense of partnership.
“Critical minerals is an area where there is a strong partnership between us; our strategic aim is to build resilience for both our economies so that no country in the supply of critical minerals holds us hostage to supply to constrain our economic growth.”
Calling people-to-people exchanges the “cornerstone” of ties, he emphasized that contact between India and the US is rooted not just in the two societies but also in institutions in the two countries, be it bipartisan congressional support or affiliation with the think tank community.
Noting that India is on the verge of transformation and positive changes, Viksit said the Bharat 2047 target has been achieved through policy changes and actions taken by India.
“I should point out that a goal is not just the articulation of a goal. It is an empirical goal that has backwards connections to policy choices and actions we take today with absolute measurable metrics each year so that we know each year that we have achieved the milestone that will help us achieve it. It is also a measurable vision that we are committed to achieving as we move forward.”
“New India is a story of great excitement, great opportunity,” he said.
He added: “We are quite confident that with this focus, with these transformations and with our international partnerships, especially with the United States, we will prevail in advancing our economic growth and prosperity and achieving the New India goal that we have for ourselves politically, economically, technologically and achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.”
