QUAD CEO highlights ever-improving India-US trade; 'Delhi's FDI from Washington up by 60%'

The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the US-India Strategic Partnership, Dr Mukesh Aghi, highlighted the urgency to drive the economic agenda under the Quad umbrella. Notably, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD is a strategic dialogue between the United States, India, Japan and Australia that is maintained by talks between member countries.
While speaking to news agency ANI, the head of a top India-centric American business advocacy group noted that both the countries must look at trade ties from a geopolitical perspective.

"Let look at it geopolitically. Biden administration has decided, along with Republicans, that China is an adversary. The three Cs that they apply --- Competition, Cooperation and Containment. From a bigger Quad perspective, the economic agenda plays a bigger role," the trade body chief said.

Notably, the statement from Aghi came days ahead of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai's visit to Asian countries, including India. During the conversation with ANI, Aghi said that the Quad countries would not only concentrate on Malabar exercise but also stress on vaccine diplomacy, technology and building advanced infrastructures.

"While the four Quad countries are having Malabar exercise but they are also focussing on vaccine diplomacy, newer technology or infrastructure. And I think that is where the economic agenda becomes more pivotal." 

Aghi stresses the importance of driving economic agenda under Quad umbrella

According to him, the trade between New Delhi and Washington is improving and added that the business between the two countries would thrive further under the Biden and Modi administration. Urging for a "piecemeal approach" to the whole economic agenda, the trade chief said, "Overall if you look at a relationship on a trade side is improving."

"The numbers are going up. India's exports are up both goods and services and at the same time, the US has become one of the largest trading partners for India. India's FDI from the US is up by 60%. So we see a lot of interest momentum picking up. Pick up 50 items which are on the US side and 50 from the Indian side and work on those and how you can get the export-import going much smoother in that direction."

"You have to realise this is not just about tariffs. Here, some issues are much more complicated. It's about localisation, data protection and privacy. The complexities are much bigger than before 5-10 years ago," added Dr Mukesh Aghi.

With inputs from ANI

Image: ANI