Innovation: Fueling the U.S.-India Commercial Partnership

Successive American presidents have referred to the U.S.-India alliance as the defining partnership of the 21st century, with growing ties in security and defense cooperation.

On the economic front, however, U.S.-India bilateral trade stands at an estimated $114.8 billion, paling in comparison to the U.S.-China $648 billion bilateral trade relationship. India is America’s ninth largest supplier of imported goods and its 18th largest export market. For the world’s first– and sixth-largest economies, respectively, there is significant room for growth.

On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S., Hudson Institute’s South and Central Asia Program and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted a discussion on Monday, June 26, on building stronger trade relations between India and the U.S.

U.S. Representative George Holding of North Carolina offered his perspective in opening remarks drawing on his experiences serving on the Committee on Ways and Means and as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

A panel discussion followed the congressman’s remarks featuring Pratyush Kumar, president of Boeing India; Danny O’Brien, government relations leader for transportation at General Electric Company; James Shapiro, resident director in North America at Tata Sons; and A. Amarnath, senior vice president at Wipro. Moderated by Amb. Husain Haqqani, director of the South and Central Asia program at Hudson Institute, the panelists explored ways to foster deeper economic bonds through innovation, global supply chain integration, investment, and more.