Kolkata Feb 7 (IANS) US Ambassador to India Kenneth I. Juster on Wednesday said India should seize the strategic opportunity through trade and investment to become a major hub for US business in the Indo-Pacific region.
Juster said the US seeks to assist India s effort to build up "its indigenous defence capabilities as well as enhance the inter-operability of our two forces" as major defence partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
"India should now seize the strategic opportunity -- through trade and investment -- to become a major hub for US business in the Indo-Pacific region " he said while addressing a session hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (Eastern Region) and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce here.
According to him India is in the midst of an economic surge as it integrates more into the global economy and the US trade and investment relationship with India continues to grow.
"Bilateral trade has gone from approximately $20 billion in 2001 to $115 billion in 2016. Of course given the size of our respective markets there is still plenty of room to expand these numbers " he said.
Juster asserted there were many benefits in expanding the bilateral economic relationship and making India a regional hub for the US business.
"Increased openness to US goods and services and an expanded presence of US companies will also stimulate private sector investment in improved infrastructure and overall connectivity " he said adding the US companies had innovative technologies that could support India s goal to create 100 smart cities.
"In a similar vein we should enhance our efforts to promote connectivity within South Asia which is one of the least economically integrated regions in the world " he said.
Juster emphasised opening India s market further to the US as trade and investment would spur collaboration on many emerging technologies that would "drive and protect our economies including those related to advanced manufacturing and cyber security".
He pointed out that the US environment technology could play a key role in helping India address air pollution energy efficiency and other challenges.
The US technology could also help India address its food security and agricultural concerns he said.
Juster said cooperation in defence and counter-terrorism had been a key pillar of the partnership between the two countries.
Elaborating further on defence cooperation he said the US defence companies were already investing in India producing components for complex defence systems.
"There is the defence sector where we have gone from nearly zero sales to close to $15 billion in a decade - and this includes sale of some of America s most advanced military equipment. We want to see this trend continue - because India s defence needs are vast and because the United States as a global leader in developing advanced military technology is committed to enhancing India s security " he said.
According to him India is projected to spend around $150 billion in this sector over the next 10-15 years so the opportunity is enormous.
Juster said the US is uniquely positioned to offer India a comprehensive energy partnership in all forms of energy -- coal crude oil natural gas and nuclear power as well as technologies related to clean fossil fuels smart grids energy storage and renewable resources.
"And travel tourism and education all play critical roles in our trade relationship with India. Indeed the U.S National Travel and Tourism Office reported almost 1.2 million Indian visitors to the United States in 2016 and this is expected to grow to 1.4 million by 2022 " he said.
"Moreover the reported number of Indian students studying in the US in 2016 was 186 000 making India our second-largest source of international students " he said.
Juster said the U.S Indo-Pacific strategy reflected the growing range of shared interests between the two countries and it was a natural complement to India s "Act East" policy.
He also said that 200 American companies were operating in eastern India through direct investments.
"Last June 10 delegates from east India were part of our India delegation to the USA Summit and we are hoping to double that number this year " he added.
--IANS
bdc/ssp/nir/bg
