India is seeking to shape its external environment for national development goals, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told American business community in an effort to convince them to have confidence and faith in Indian business environment.
"We are purposefully seeking to shape our external environment in support our national development goals. There are stirrings of change in our neighbourhood," Krishna said in his address to the US India Business Council (USIBC).
"We are working with Pakistan to define a new paradigm of trade relations. We are supporting Afghanistan with investment, development partnership and regional integration.
We will host an investors' conference at the end of June in Delhi, to which, I hope, some of you will come," he said adding, India is seeking relationship of shared prosperity through increased trade, assistance and connectivity.
With Myanmar, India is not only rediscovering its natural economic partnership, but also building a bridge to Southeast Asia, with which New Delhi has a robust and matured economic engagement.
"We are building strong economic ties and seeking improved market access with China. Our exports to West Asia have expanded at a faster rate than our imports from there," he said.
"The vision of bringing Central Asia's gas to South Asia is turning into a reality, but our connection with the region will go beyond hydrocarbons," Krishna said.
Notably the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is pushing for economic integration of South and Central Asia through her concept of New Silk Route, which she announced for the first time in her Chennai address last year.
"From Australia to Africa, our businesses are seeking new sources of minerals and energy, but we also see ourselves as partners in the development of industry, infrastructure and human resources, particularly in Africa," he said.
"North America has emerged as an important source of gas and potentially of oil for world markets, and we hope that the US Government will be liberal in permitting gas exports to India.
This will be in our mutual economic and energy security interests. And, we are building a web of trade and economic arrangements that stretches from Japan to Canada," he said.
Krishna said a decade ago, lack of familiarity, trust and confidence made US industry an unlikely partner for its defense requirement.
"Now, in the last four years, defense contracts for US companies have amounted to $9 billion. As we seek to expand this relationship further, it must increasingly rest on the foundation of technology transfer, as well as joint research, development and production," he noted.
