“There is much to be done in trade. Trade will be an important factor in India-USA ties in the coming decade,” PM Modi said in his first bilateral meeting.
Ahead of the visit, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the two leaders are expected to focus on further strengthening bilateral trade and investment ties, strengthening defence and security collaboration and boosting the strategic clean energy partnership. “The bilateral meeting (between Modi and Biden) will also feature the current regional security situation following recent developments in Afghanistan, our stakes as a neighbour and a longstanding and a preferred development partner of Afghanistan,” he said.
Modi, who is visiting the US for the seventh time after assuming office in 2014, had said his visit would be an occasion to strengthen the Indo-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest with President Biden.
Following the bilateral summit, Biden would welcome Modi again at the White House for the first-ever in-person Quad summit.
US-India Business Council Chief Nisha Desai Biswal told CNN-News18 India is hopeful that the meeting would lead to improved economic and trade opportunities between the two countries.
“We are also hopeful that the bilateral conversation will talk about increasing and improving the economic and trade opportunities between the two countries. In recent weeks, we have been hearing from the Indian side that they would like to see more and more US investment and higher level of trade. I am hoping that perhaps we can start exploring the possibility of a free trade agreement or a limited trade agreement between the two countries,” she said.
Speaking on economic agenda in view of the Quad alliance, Biswal said, “there is scope for Quad as a platform to think about the future economy and to really create a robust economic agenda focused on digital principles and alignment of a digital governance agenda, whether it’s on looking at emerging technologies and how we usher in greater investment and focus on the technologies that are going to be critical for all the nations of the Indo-pacific in the years to come.”
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