WASHINGTON: US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Jacob Helberg, on Tuesday (local time) said that Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump set a goal to increase trade between the US and India to 500 billion dollars.
During the congressional hearing, Helberg expressed strong confidence in the future of US-India trade.
He also outlined the administration’s “maximum pressure” policy on Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
“The administration has instituted a policy of maximum pressure on Russia. The goal of the administration is very much to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.
That included the installment of secondary sanctions which had the effect of affecting a number of different Indian interests. Ultimately, the reaching of the bilateral joint statement on trade between the US and India has brought about positive resolutions and discussions,” Helberg said.
“The content of the bilateral statement on trade include historic purchases by India from the US on energy, historic cross-border investment and I believe it was in the first quarter of the President’s administration, PM Modi and President Trump set a goal of increasing overall bilateral trade flows to 500 billion dollars. So, I am incredibly confident in the trajectory of the US-India relationship… Our new ambassador there (in India) is doing an unbelievable job,” he said.
This comes after the United States and India announced that they had reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
