US-India partnership filled with promise: Antony Blinken

Blinken considers it “extraordinarily powerful “that Indian Americans created a third of all immgigrant-funded startups in the US

Asserting that the trajectory of the US-India partnership is unmistakable and filled with promise, US secretary of state Antony J Blinken says he can imagine all the benefits this will bring to Indians and Americans both.

“What I’m now trying to imagine and what I know you all are working on and bringing to life is what this will look 15-50 years from now and all the benefits this will bring to Indians and Americans both,” he said Tuesday.

READ: US firms stand ready to do more for India’s progress: Atul Keshap (June 13, 2023)

Blinken was delivering his address at the US-India Business Council’s India Ideas Summit in Washington, DC on June 13 ahead of the upcoming official visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US on June 22.

This year’s USIBC summit with the theme of ‘trust, resilience and growth’ will be focusing on how the three principles — trust, resilience and growth — underpin the India-US economic partnership across multiple sectors.

Noting that Indian Americans created a third of all immgigrant-funded startups in the US, Blinken said, “That is extraordinarily powerful and maybe most significant for the future.”

“US-India’s education systems have produced the leaders of some of our most iconic companies,” he noted. “From Google to Infosys, not to mention former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga who is now the president of the World Bank.”

“We have more than 200,000 Indians studying in various US universities. India is the second-largest source of international students in the US,” he said.

Arielle has become a hub of Indian investments where companies like HCL created 2,400 jobs, training American high-schoolers for IT jobs, noted Blinken.

Honeywell is employing 13,000 people across Kolkata to Mumbai making safer airplanes and energy efficient buildings.

“Duke University has established presence in Bangalore. One North Carolina enterprenur from Gujarat observed and I quote, ‘This could not have happened 15 years ago,’” Blinken said.

READ: Indian Americans gearing up to welcome Modi on historic state visit (June 12, 2023)

“We have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies and unleash our full potential for our people,” he said.

“We recently established a partnership to make our semiconductor supply chain more resilient,” Blinken said.

In Tamil Nadu, the US IDFC provided $500 million to help a leading American company build a solar manufacturing facility.

“This project will power more than 30 million light bulbs in homes, schools and businesses. It will create over 1,000 jobs for Indias and Americans, and will shift a key component of our clean energy supply chains to a close partner,” Blinken said.

Noting that trade between the two countries reached $191 billion in 2022, Blinken said US companies have invested $54 billion in India in manufacturing and telecommunications.

Indian companies have invested $40 billion in the US in IT, Pharma, supporting over 425000 jobs from California to Georgia.

Air India announced an historic purchase of 200 aircraft which will support an estimated one million jobs across 44 states, Blinken noted.

India and US are big, complicated countries, Blinken said noting India-US relationship has gone through multiple administrations, but continues to move forward.

“The US-India relationship is a unqiue one between the world’s oldest and largest democracies,” he said.

Blinken said he has worked with US President Joe Biden for more than 20 years. “I know the premium he has attached to the India-US relationship,” he added.

Blinken said US stands with the people of India as they recover from the Odisha train accident tragedy.

READ: Official State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India (May 10, 2023)

“India is not just a market anymore, it is part of global supply chain,” said India ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

Sandhu said he is keen to attract US companies to invest in India. He was also delighted to note that Indian companies are investing in the US.