India, US need to be attentive to developments in Indo-Pacific: Nisha Biswal

India and US will need to be attentive to "dangerous currents" in Indo-Pacific to ensure that region continues to be a zone of peace, prosperity and pluralism, US India Business Council president Nisha Desai Biswal said on Friday.

Delivering Atal Bihari Vajpayee memorial lecture, Biswal also said India and US will require to work toger closely in ecomic sphere to succeed and be competitive with production capacity of China.

She said coming days and months will be deeply challenging for both India and US as y will have to deploy a tremendous amount of attention and resources to stem spre of COVID -19, while also deploying approved vaccines across bro geographies.

online lecture was organised by Ministry of External Affairs to pay glowing tributes to former prime minister Vajpayee on his 96th birth anniversary.

"We (India and US) will need to take bold steps to rebuild our ecomies. And we will need to be attentive to dangerous currents in Indo-Pacific to ensure that region continues to be a zone of peace, prosperity and pluralism. ne of this will be easy. But working toger all of it is possible," US India Business Council (USIBC) president said.

re have been mounting global concerns over China's military assertiveness in Indo-Pacific region.

Biswal, a former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said time has come for US and India to furr bolster ir partnership to realise full potential of ties, particularly considering challenging situation thrown up by coronavirus pandemic.

"In a world ravd by pandemic where businesses and communities are struggling to overcome alienating and isolating impact of this virus, when our global institutions are weakened and our tritional alliances are being tested, time has come for United States and India in partnership to rise to ir full potential to build better future we kw is waiting for us," she said, "With incoming Biden-Harris ministration, re will be a renewed focus on restoring our global alliances and strengning our global institutions," she said.

Biswal said expansion of Indo-US ties and strategic convergence that deepened under current ministration will continue, but observed that y need to be buttressed with a broer focus on shared democratic values.

"And our geopolitical ambitions need to be paired with a firm grasp and strategy for engaging geo-ecomic realities of Indo-Pacific," she said.

On tre relations, Biswal said promise of a growing ecomic partnership driving greater tre and investment in both US and India has been seen.

"Despite fact that we have t been able to conclude even a small agreement between our two countries, we have seen promise of a growing ecomic partnership drive greater tre and investment in both US and India," she said.

official furr said: " geoecomic realities are such that for eir US or India to succeed and be competitive with production capacity and efficiency of China, it will require us to work toger and develop more effective and efficient ecomies in our respective countries." Biswal said ecomic resilience, which in part reflects India's consumer culture and strong growth fundamentals, is an important facet of its enduring appeal as a destination for foreign investment, particularly from US investors.

"As we look to future, we must build on se successes and deepen our ecomic convergence. We must align our tre policies and help rebuild each or's ecomies," she said.

"Only n can we build partnership that can, in words of Prime Minister Modi, aspire to benefit t only American people and people of India but truly benefit global community," Biswal ded.

She said US and India must build digital architecture that will connect communities of both countries while securing ir data and usher in a new era of digital commerce without sacrificing eir security or sovereignty.

Biswal also paid glowing tribute to Vajpayee, saying he was first to speak of US-India partnership as being one between natural allies.

"He spoke of a tre and ecomic partnership powered by entrepreneurial talent of our peoples where new techlogies and invations would help overcome global challenges," she said.

Im Credits: PTI