India and the United States have agreed to beef up cooperation on counter-terrorism even as they dealt with a range of economic issues with a commitment to and spur
bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
At their first elevated Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, held here on Tuesday, the two countries also concluded a Memorandum of Understanding on energy security, climate change and clean energy.
Secretary of State John Kerry and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, co-chairs of the dialogue, expressed satisfaction at what Swaraj called the “productive and fruitful discussions” over a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues.
On the terror front, Swaraj said the US appreciated India’s concerns and pledged to fight the menace together. A joint statement makes a specific mention of India-specific terror outfits such as leT, JeM and D-C0mpany, and the need for Pakistan to bring to book the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Kerry and Swaraj spoke of the unprecedented opportunities that are unfolding to take their economic partnership to a new level.
“I think we have plans to advance our relationship to a $500 billion goal of economic exchange,” he said in his opening remarks to the media along with Swaraj, who echoed the optimism on the elevated dialogue, noting: “I’m very hopeful that the meeting will be very productive and very meaningful.”
Swaraj spoke of the increasing convergence between the two countries and all-out effort to implement the broad agenda set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama to realise the full potential of their engagement.
“This is a very busy time for India and US relations,” Swaraj commented, stressing it was important to set timelines to achieve targets.
Kerry, a long-time activist on climate change issues, said the two countries have agreed to work closely on the climate change issue with the aim of forging an international climate agreement in Paris later this year.
Ahead of the plenary discussions, Kerry had a private meeting to talk about what he referred to as “some of the complicated issues of the region”.
“President Obama is very much looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Modi” in New York next week, Kerry said.
“We have a very robust discussion regarding counterterrorism, the Indian Ocean, maritime security, South China Sea, the South Asian challenges of the moment, as well as our challenges on a global basis for nuclear nonproliferation and climate change,” he said, adding: “So it’s a full agenda with one of our most important partners in the world, the largest democracy in the world.”
For all the bonhomie expressed by the two co-chairs, the top commerce officials of the two sides brought to the fore some of the unresolved issues on both sides over a period.
If US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker brought up pending issues at the Indian end such as modernizing its laws and procedures for commercial dispute settlements and greater intellectual property protection, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted the US failure to agree to a “totalization” pact dealing with social security contributions of Indian guest workers that cumulatively runs into millions of dollars.
Beginning Monday, Pritzker and Sitharaman have been flagging the issues, starting with their presentations at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Sitharaman for her part sought to assure the US government and investor community that it is well on course to beefing up ease of doing business with a series of ongoing and upcoming initiatives.
Dwelling on Modi’s personal lead to transform India’s business climate, Sitharaman spoke of the NDA Government’s political will to bring to early fruition a whole range of measures to make India a preferred investor destination.
Pritzker welcomed India’s raising of FDI limits in insurance, defence and railway infrastructure sectors, but underscored the need to improve the ease of doing business on a broad front, given that India is placed at a lowly 187 in a World Bank listing countries on its ease of business index. She welcomed Modi’s resolve to bring India within the Top 50 even while stressing that it is going to be a big challenge.
On the question of speedy settlement of commercial disputes, Sitharaman referred to the Bill currently before Parliament and said the Government will strive for its early passage.
Power Minister Piyush Goyal and US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz also held simultaneous dialogue and reviewed the progress made by the six Working Groups and identified new areas for cooperation. Goyal outlined steps to provide 24x7 power across India by 2019 by creating cost effective infrastructure which was sustainable and inclusive of clean energy solutions. He emphasised that India was committed to pursue a green path to growth.