India, US to hold Strategic and Commercial Dialogue next week

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker would host their Indian counterparts Sushma Swaraj and Nirmala Sitharaman respectively for the first-ever India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue here next week, a US official said today.
The inaugural US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue will be held at the State Department on September 21 and 22, State Department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
"The US-India strategic dialogue has been the primary forum to advance shared objectives in regional security, economic cooperation, defense trade, and climate challenges, since 2009," he said.
In January, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi elevated the US-India Strategic Dialogue to the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, reflecting the two nations' shared priorities of generating economic growth, creating jobs, improving the investment climate, and strengthening the middle class in both countries, he said.

"This inaugural S&CD, as we call it, will be an opportunity for the US and India to further strengthen their partnership to meet the challenges of the coming decades, from climate change to regional security, and of course, to deepen the economic and commercial ties between our two countries," Kirby said.
"We are very much looking forward to that dialogue next week," he said.