The U.S. capital was in the grip of India fever this week with a sense of growing anticipation around interactions between senior administration officials from both nations during the September 21 Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (SC&D), and also a high-profile event hosted by the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC) at which Vice-President Joe Biden will honour top women CEOs Shobhana Bhartiya and Indira Nooyi.
The Council announced on Tuesday that along with Mr. Biden, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and other high-ranking officials from both governments, along with captains of industry from both countries, will address the USIBC on the occasion of its 40th anniversary and on the same day would to kick off the first SC&D.
The Council added that as part of its Anniversary Leadership Summit it would be honouring CEO and Chairman of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi and Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group, Shobhana Bhartia, “for their commitment towards building a more inclusive global economy.”
Other senior officials who will join the government-to-government dialogue now redefined to include the “Commercial” component of the SC&D include Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, and U.S. Secretary of State for Commerce Penny Pritzker.
Ms. Sitharaman and Ms. Pritzker will also spell out details on the prospects for rapid progress in trade and investment cooperation, at an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace next Monday on “U.S.-India Economic Ties: Ready for Takeoff?”
The events will set the scene for the September 23 touch-down on U.S. soil of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose second visit to this country in one year will see him meet President Barack Obama in New York and address an 18,000-strong diaspora reception in Silicon Valley, both events aimed at sustaining momentum in bilateral economic and technology cooperation.
Reflecting on the importance of the economic dimension within the Modi-Obama discourse USIBC Chairman Ajay Banga said, “The world's largest democracies share a love of freedom and an entrepreneurial spirit that, if nurtured, can help realise the full potential of India-U.S. relations.”
