New Delhi, The conversations between India and the US have “gone well beyond general arguments and are now expressed as specific initiatives or programmes” and on many of the big challenges of the day, including terrorism, pandemics and climate change, the thinking of the two is along parallel paths, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.
In his remarks at the India Ideas Summit organised by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), he said that India and the US “not only work together on global issues but are dedicated to the well-being of the global commons. That provides the basis for coordinated action.”
He said the outlook of the five Ts --Tradition, Technology, Trade, Trusteeship and Talent, as enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to describe Indo-US ties permeates both the bilateral Summit and that of the Quad.
Citing examples of the alignment in thinking, he said: “Consider some of the recent developments. The most pressing challenge – that of Covid – has been met through a Quad initiative which taps into the strengths of each of the participants. The climate action concern is addressed, amongst others, through the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership.
“The relevance of advanced technologies is captured by Quad initiatives ranging from AI, 5G and beyond to critical minerals, space and blockchain. Our trade potential is being more aggressively explored, bilaterally through Trade Policy Forum and in a larger group, through additional supply chains.
“The importance of infrastructure is similarly being discussed in terms of high quality and market-viable initiatives. The people-centric nature of our activities is affirmed in education, innovation, R&D and mobility. When it comes to defence and security, the benefits of India being a Major Defence Partner of the US are becoming evident. And our collective Quad commitment to maritime security is equally relevant,” he added.
He said this coordinated approach signals a very positive enabling environment for business. “When polities have strong convergences, their economic energies tend to find partners much more readily. Second, both India-US relations and the Quad speak of a newer and more collaborative era of our ties. We are seeing value in each other more clearly and with less constraints. Three, in an era where technology is increasingly connected with trust and supply chains with reliability, we are contemplating how best to take forward post-Covid economic recovery.”
He said “the transformation in India even amidst the pandemic: the nature of the public health response, the fiscal handling of the pandemic-induced challenges, the reforms in labour, education and agriculture, and the expansion of manufacturing, are developments that surely merit your consideration.”
“At the end of the day, any relationship is only as strong as its economic foundation,” he added.
Earlier, he said the first in-person bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Biden and the first in-person Quad summit “Together, these two events provided an opportunity to not only refresh our ties but give them an updated relevance in a larger context.
“Appropriately, the outcome document after the bilateral discussions was titled as a partnership for global good. So, we are focused on a relationship that has not only steadily expanded but is now consequential enough to be imbued with a bigger purpose.”
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