India’s first ‘2+2 dialogue’ with the U.S. will help achieve the $500 billion bilateral trade target between the two nations by 2025 and deepen ties among the world’s largest democracies, according to Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis are scheduled to hold the first 2+2 dialogue with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday.
Mr. Donohue was in Mumbai on Wednesday to address the 43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC).
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“You can’t do defence without economic strength and the 2+2 will set the groundwork for something that will not only improve our defence ties, but will clearly take us towards the $500 billion. I have seen a lot of steady growth of trade and investment with India,” Mr. Donohue said.
“We take two steps forward and then a step back. At first we crawled, then we walked … Over the last decade, it picked up to a jog — with trade between our nations tripling to $125 billion. But we’re here today because we have the opportunity to go from a jog to a full sprint in the years ahead,” he said. “Now, we are talking of $500 billion in two-way trade by 2025, almost four times what we have today.”
“India is one of the most important economic and geopolitical partners of the U.S.” The general agreement across the U.S. government and businesses is that India should be given priority as India is at the centre of attraction, according to the chamber.
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Mr. Donohue said this was a first-of-its-kind engagement for India; inclusion of India in a select list of countries like Japan, South Korea and Australia, with whom the U.S. is having such a dialogue, makes the intentions very evident, he said.
He added, “Consider the opportunities in e-commerce as just one example: in the next two years, the number of Indians shopping online is projected to balloon by 50%, from 400 to 600 million. American businesses need to be able to compete for these 200 million new customers who will be rushing into the digital marketplace.”
The chamber is making a case with the Trump administration to welcome Indian high skilled workers with ‘open arms’, he said.