US Experts Group Meeting on Prime Minister Modi’s State Visit to the United States: Way Ahead in India-US Partnership

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a discussion on “Prime Minister Modi’s State Visit to the United States: Way Ahead in India-US Partnership” on 26 June, 2023. Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, gave the opening remarks and Amb. Arun Kumar Singh moderated the session. Mr. Nitin A. Gokhale, Lt. Gen. Anil Ahuja (Retd.) and Mr. Sanjay Chadha were the main speakers at the event. Amb. Satish Chandra, Air Marshal G.S. Bedi, Air Marshal Rajesh Kumar, Dr. C. Rajamohan, Dr. Harinder Sekhon, Mr. P.S. Sahoo, Amb. Pankaj Saran, Amb. P.S. Raghavan, Lt. Gen. Anil Bhatt, Vice Adm. Satish Soni, Prof. K.P. Vijayalakshmi, Mr. Pranav Kumar, Lt. Gen. R.K. Sawhney and Gp. Cap. Naval Jagota, Cchavi Vashisht, Aarushi Gupta, Dr. Sweta Kumari and the VIF interns participated in the event.

The discussion highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a landmark visit to the US that will have long-term bilateral, regional and global implications. PM Modi and President Joseph Biden are emphasising on the mutual trust between India and the US. Defence and security have been one of the main pillars of India-US bilateral relations. It was outlined that there is more stability in defence relations than in the past and initiatives such as “A Roadmap for US-India Defence Industrial Cooperation” would help in removing hindrances to greater cooperation. The technology transfer and cooperation in critical and emerging technologies are becoming the centre stage of India-US relations. Various facets of the joint statement released by India and the US were evaluated in the discussion. An assessment of the significance as well as the challenges associated with the new initiatives such as the deal between General Electric (GE) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Artemis Accords, Strategic Trade Dialogue, cooperation in diversification of semiconductor supply chains and others was made. Some of the pertinent aspects of India-US relations such as the digital partnership, trade, maritime cooperation, Indo-Pacific region and people-to-people ties were part of the deliberations. The discussion brought out suggestions that could contribute towards the implementation of these agreements and further deepening of ties between India and the United States.