During his speech, the Vice President made no mention of Dunkin’ Donuts or 7-Eleven, instead recognizing the contributions Indian-Americans had made to America. There is no message intended to be sent to China through this strategic and commercial dialogue, he said.
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“This is a dialogue to deepen and strengthen our bilateral cooperation, our bilateral ties and this dialogue has not been charted to create wider influence in any part of the world or China”, she said. Outlining initiatives to build hundred smart cities, cleaning up of river Ganges, skilling 300 million people by 2020, along with plans to boost urbanisation and providing housing and electricity for all, Swaraj touted these as opportunities that the USA investors could leverage by being instrumental in India’s growth. “What feels new is the amount of energy that the Indian government is putting in to try to remove the impediments that have been faced by foreign companies trying to do business in India“. Both sides came to several agreements on clean energy and enhancing climate change cooperation.
He said the United States was launching a Fulbright climate fellowship program to help with the exchange of research information. Kerry described this as a milestone. The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to a secure and stable Afghanistan and agreed to launch an Ocean Dialogue. We are aspirational: driven by the insecurity – not driven by insecurity or by fear, but we are driven, I think, both of us, by hope.
“As strong supporters of the U.S.-India relationship, we urge you to take full advantage of the S&CD to address significant and long-standing bilateral concerns, encourage India to follow through on its reform agenda and set ambitious new goals to improve bilateral trade and investment”, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. And we believe in freedom and the rights of all.
“We spoke of India’s aspiration for greater participation in internet governance organisations such as ICANN and related bodies”.
Sushma Swaraj arrived in the U.S. yesterday to lead the Indian delegation for the dialogue which also includes Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Power Minister Piyush Goyal. However, she observed that commercial relationship has not lived up to potential.
For the first time it has been elevated to Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.
In closing, our teams have a lot to discuss – I look forward to doing so in a climate of genuine warmth and friendship.
Also missing was any announcement of defense sales like those appearing in the press about the Indian military’s likely procurement of Boeing Apache and Chinook helicopters.
Kerry and Swaraj underlined that present day diplomacy was mainly about the economy and business.
India and U.S. were committed to ensuring that the Security Council continues to play an effective role in maintaining global peace and security as envisioned in the UN Charter, a joint statement issued after the conclusion of the US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
And one example of that wisdom is his saying – he had many sayings – but one of them is that “energy and persistence conquer all things”.
Prior conversations that Indian officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have had with their US interlocutors have involved American requests for India to consider joining this coalition, but New Delhi has so far appeared reluctant, notwithstanding the cases of Indians discovered to have joined the ranks of the IS.
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The declaration also “reiterated the threat posed by entities such as Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, Lashkar-e-Taeba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company, and the Haqqani Network, and other regional groups that seek to undermine stability in South Asia”.
