'India,US indispensable partners in promoting peace in region'

Confident of further advancement of partnership between India and the US, a top official of the Obama administration today said every future US government should continue with the joint strategic vision of the two countries being "indispensable partners in promoting peace, prosperity and stability in the region".
Jeff Zients, Director of the National Economic Council, said the US-India partnership has never been stronger but the two countries still need to do much better given the size of their economies.
"With President (Barack) Obama's visit to India during India's Republic Day celebration and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's visit to the White House last June and historic address in Congress, it's easy to see the strong friendship between our two countries.

"Over the past seven-and-a-half years, our cooperation has strengthened in every field - from developing life-saving solutions for infectious diseases to strengthening humanitarian and disaster relief," Zients told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit to India.
He said the leadership from both the countries has helped galvanise global action to support clean energy solutions and combat climate change, including the historic Paris Agreement.
Zients also serves as Assistant to the US President for Economic Policy. Previously, he was appointed by the President to a newly created position of United States Chief Performance Officer. Prior to joining the Administration, Zients spent 20 years in the private sector as a CEO, management consultant and entrepreneur.

Asked about his assessment of the progress made by India and the US in trade and commerce in the seven-and-half years of the Obama administration and the message for his successor, Zients said the two-way trade between the two countries has reached USD 109 billion and investment is generating new jobs and healthier economies.

"Our conversations this week will include government-to-government discussions, as well as opportunities to hear from business people and entrepreneurs who rely on good government policies.
"It is undoubtedly in both of our interests to find solutions to economic challenges together, remove impediments to growing our economies, and contribute to a sustainable, balanced global economy.

Zients further said the work done by the two governments and their businesses together is helping to create better opportunities for cities and rural communities and it increasingly has global benefits.
"We are extremely proud of all of our economic achievements, but at the same time we know there is a lot more we can do together.
"For economies of our size, we need to do much better. We can grow our commercial relationship with India if modest reforms are made, like strengthening intellectual property protections, reducing technical barriers to trade, and by deepening engagement to address market access barriers," he added.

He further said that in addition to government-to- government work on the frame of bilateral trade and investment, increasing US-India business-to-business ties remains one of the highest priorities.
"At this week's Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD) and US-India CEO Forum, we will have many opportunities to discuss ways to maximize and strengthen our economic and commercial partnerships and foster innovation. Since the last CEO Forum and S&CD, we have helped launch an initiative to build smart cities across India.
"We have helped to support smart city planning activities and hosted a study tour for officials from Andhra Pradesh, Vizag, and the Ministry of Urban Development. And our Commerce Department led 18 US companies on a Smart Cities Infrastructure Trade Mission to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Vizag. These activities are a win-win for India and the United States," he said.