Page 67 - Us India Relations

USTR Tai to visit New Delhi next week for US-India trade policy forum meet

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is scheduled to travel to New Delhi next week and will co-chair the ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Ambassador Tai will travel to India from January 12-14 and begin her trip with a meeting with Goyal. She is also scheduled to meet Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar later. On January 13, Tai will meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration's engagement and commitment to fostering closer ties between the two countries. Tai's visit marks the first trip to India in the new year by a senior Biden administration official. Tai and Goyal will co-chair the 14th ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF). During this year's meeting, Tai and Goyal will discuss a broad set of issues to enhance the resiliency of the trade relationship, including ...

India-US trade policy forum to discuss social security pact, visa issues

India will flag issues such as proposed social security agreement, visas, and promoting agri trade in the meeting of India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) during January 13-14, a top government official said. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai will be here for a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. It will be the 14th ministerial-level meeting of the India-US TPF. India is seeking social security of totalisation agreement with the US. "There are issues pertaining to table grapes. The US also has certain issues. Social security agreement and mobility are our main focus areas," the official said. Under the agreement, an expatriate in either country need not contribute to the social security schemes of the host country. It will benefit a number of Indians, particularly from the IT sector, who are working in America and paying social security but are unable to get any benefit out of it. The last meeting was held in Washington in January 2023. India in that meeting

Hindu Temple defaced with pro-Khalistan graffiti in California's Hayward

A Hindu temple in Hayward, California, has been defaced with pro-Khalistan graffiti. This incident at Sherawali Temple comes weeks after the Swaminarayan temple in Newark, California was defaced by anti-India graffiti.The Hindu American Foundation has reported that Sherawali Temple in California was defaced with pro-Khalistani graffiti. It has also shared a picture of the defacement.In a post shared on X, the Hindu American Foundation stated, "#Breaking: Another Bay Area Hindu temple attacked with pro-#Khalistan graffiti. The Vijay's Sherawali Temple in Hayward, CA sustained a copycat defacement just two weeks after the Swaminarayan Mandir attack and one week after a theft at the Shiv Durga temple in the same area. HAF is in touch with temple leaders and in contact with @AlamedaPD & @CivilRights."The Hindu American Foundation also highlighted the importance of installing working security cameras and alarm systems, considering the rising threat from Khalistan supporters.Taking to

US Pentagon fact sheet: 'Decisive year' for open, stable Indo-Pacific

The Pentagon plans to bolster India's defence modernization, including by advancing the priorities outlined in the 'Roadmap for US - India Defence Industrial Cooperation'

Pentagon on 2023: Modernising scope of military engagements with India

The US has modernised the scope of its military engagements with India and bolstered its defence modernisation plans, the Pentagon has said, as it highlighted the groundbreaking achievements and cooperation with allies in 2023 aimed towards peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Amidst China's aggressive moves in the South China Sea, the Pentagon said it is deploying cutting-edge military capabilities right now, developing the capabilities needed to maintain deterrence in the Indo-Pacific in the future. Throughout 2023, the United States has worked alongside allies and partners to deliver groundbreaking achievements for peace, stability, and deterrence in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the Department of Defence said in a fact sheet on a Decisive Year in the Indo-Pacific region. Citing individual country examples, the department said it is also supporting allies and partners as they invest in their own capabilities by bolstering India's defence modernisation

Visa, agri, GSP likely to figure in India-US trade policy forum meet in Jan

Issues about visas, promoting agri trade and resumption of benefits under the American generalised system of preferences (GSP) are expected to figure in the meeting of India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in January here, an official said. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai will be here for a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Both sides will discuss ways to increase trade and investments between the two countries during the two-day meeting from January 13, 2024. It will be the 14th ministerial-level meeting of the India-US TPF, the official said. The last meeting was held in Washington in January 2023. India in that meeting highlighted the delay in the issuance of business visas to people from India. New Delhi is also keen on restoration of its beneficiary status under the US GSP programme. The previous Trump administration in the US revoked the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) from India in 2019. The GSP allows eligible developing countries to expor

Indian judiciary has 'no jurisdiction' in Nikhil Gupta case: Czech

India's judicial authorities have "no jurisdiction" in the case involving Nikhil Gupta, Czech justice ministry spokesperson Vladimir Repka has said, days after his family approached the Supreme Court seeking its intervention in the matter. Gupta, charged by the US government of involvement in a conspiracy to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil, has been in a jail in Prague since he was detained in the Czech Republic around six months ago. The US has approached the Czech government for Gupta's extradition and proceedings relating to it are underway. "Any judicial authorities of the Republic of India have no jurisdiction in the matter in question, the case is under the jurisdiction of the competent authorities of the Czech Republic," Repka said. A family member of Gupta, 52, approached the Supreme Court last week pleading for issuing direction to the Indian government to intervene in the extradition proceedings and ensure a fair trial in the case. The US federal prosecutors have

We are in era of multilateralism: PM Modi in rare interview amid Pannun row

India's commitment is to the rule of law and if someone gives information, it would look into it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Financial Times in his first comments on the US allegations relating to an Indian link over a foiled plot targeting a Sikh separatist. In an interview to the British daily, Modi said there is strong bipartisan support for strengthening of India-US relations and it is not appropriate to link a few incidents with diplomatic ties. "If someone gives us any information, we would definitely look into it," Modi said, according to FT. "If a citizen of ours has done anything good or bad, we are ready to look into it. Our commitment is to the rule of law," he said. The US federal prosecutors have charged that one Nikhil Gupta was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. India has already constituted a probe committee to investigate ...

Australia and New Zealand leaders considering closer defence ties

Australia and New Zealand leaders agreed on Wednesday to seek closer defence ties as the latter considers sharing advanced military technologies with the United States and Britain through the so-called AUKUS partnership. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made Australia the destination of his first overseas visit since forming a coalition government following his election in October. Luxon said he and his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, agreed at their meeting in Sydney the two countries' defence and foreign ministers would meet in early 2024 to ensure their plans were aligned and coordinated. We know we're facing a more challenging and complex world. Close security and defence relationships we have with our only ally, Australia, is very foundational for New Zealand, Luxon told reporters. New Zealand is committed to doing our share of the heavy lifting in the alliance and I'm determined that New Zealand will continue to be alongside Australia as we seek to advan

RoDTEP does not violate WTO principles, India to convince US: Official

The RoDTEP scheme came into effect three years ago to refund the embedded non-creditable central, state, and local levies paid on inputs to exporters

Govt to help exporters maintain documentation to deal with US duty cases

The commerce ministry has started an exercise to help Indian exporters keep proper documentation to deal with US countervailing duty cases on domestic products, an official said. As part of the exercise, teams of the directorate general of foreign trade (DGTR) and directorate general of trade remedies (DGTR) are working on a roadmap to work on the kind of documentation that needs to be maintained by Indian exporters. Before imposing countervailing or anti-subsidy duty (CVD), a country carries out detailed investigations on products which it believes that its trading partner is subsidising for export purposes. Subsidising exports is a kind of unfair trade practice. Countervailing duties can only be imposed if the investigating agency of the importing country determines that the imports of the product in question are subsidized and are injuring a domestic industry. Imposition of this duty does not prohibit or restrict imports. World Trade Organisation (WTO) allows its member countrie

SC to hear plea of detained Indian for plot to kill Sikh separatist in US

The Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing for January 4, 2024 on a habeas corpus plea moved by Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who has been accused of plotting an assassination attempt on Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhatti described the matter as an "extremely sensitive issue for the Ministry of External Affairs" and told senior advocate C A Sundaram, representing Gupta, to approach a court in the Czech Republic, where his client is lodged in a jail. Sundaram told the bench that he is not pressing his habeas corpus prayer at this stage, but only seeking consular access and a direction to the Indian envoy in the European country to find out about the status of the case as his client is not being told anything. The bench asked the senior lawyer about the person who has filed the petition in the apex court, to which Sundaram said on behalf of Gupta, one of his family members has moved the plea in the capacit

Cabinet approves pact between India, US to enhance innovation ecosystems

The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the US and India to enhance innovation ecosystems. The two countries are working together to strengthen the startup eco- system in deep tech sectors and promote cooperation in initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). "The MoU would contribute significantly to strengthening Commercial opportunities in the high tech sector," an official statement said. The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the MoU between the two countries to enhance innovation ecosystems through an innovation handshake, it said. Further, it said that the scope of cooperation would include a series of India-US Innovation Handshake events, round tables with the private sector, including hackathon and Open Innovation programmes, information sharing and other activities. The pact laid the groundwork for two future Innovation Handshake events scheduled to take place in India and the US in early 20

India at pivotal moment in its history: Cisco Chairman Emeritus Chambers

India is at a pivotal moment in its history and will partner the US in innovation and job creation, Chairman Emeritus of US network gear maker Cisco John T Chambers said on Thursday. "India will keep tracking towards ultimately becoming the number one economy in the world," Chambers said in a post on LinkedIn. Chambers said India is at a pivotal moment in its history and will drive growth and opportunity in the years to come. "The US and India will become the most strategic partnership in the world, driving global innovation and job creation at an accelerating pace," he added. Chambers said these opportunities and growth will be driven by initiatives like Digital and AI India, as well as India's eagerness and openness to build collaborative, strategic partnerships with the US and other key global players. Earlier this month, S&P Global Ratings had said India will be the world's third-largest economy by 2030. The US-based rating agency had said it expects India to be the fastest .

India, US reaffirm pledge to fight illicit risks in global financial system

India and the US recently co-chaired the 'US-India Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Dialogue'

US made great progress in bolstering defence ties with India: Pentagon

The US has made great progress in bolstering its defence relationship with India and the Pentagon is looking forward to making further progress in military-to-military ties in 2024, a senior official has said. In terms of the relationship between the US and India, you know, with obvious focus on the Department of Defence, I think it has been a very good year. I think we've made great progress in terms of further bolstering our relationship and cooperation, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder told reporters at a news conference here. You've heard us talk about things like INDUS-X and working on defence cooperation efforts to include in the industrial base as far as developing things like jet engines in India, working collaboratively to produce armoured vehicles in India, the ability of our ships to go to India -- our Navy ships to go to India to be repaired, he said in response to a question on Tuesday. So all of this working toward the common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific ..

Biden unlikely to visit India on Republic Day, Quad summit in late 2024

US President Joe Biden is not expected to visit India next month to grace the Republic Day celebrations as Chief Guest, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. In September, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited President Biden to be the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 next year. However, there was no comment on the invitation by India. Separately, sources said the Quad summit is proposed to be held in India in the later part of 2024. "We are looking for revised dates as the dates currently under consideration do not work with all the Quad partners," said a source.

CBI, FBI discuss greater collab in tackling cybercrime, sharing evidence

FBI Director Christopher Wray met CBI Director Praveen Sood here on Monday where they discussed among things greater cooperation in cyber-related financial crimes and sharing of evidence in bringing criminals and fugitives to face justice, officials said. In an hour-long meeting that started with the arrival of Wray and other US officials at the agency headquarters around 02.00 pm, the two sides recognised the challenges posed by organized crime networks, cyber-enabled financial crimes, ransomware threats, economic crimes and transnational crimes. It was also decided that training academies of both the investigation agencies will share best practices with each other, a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. Wray arrived in the national capital on Sunday evening for a two-day visit during which he is also scheduled to meet top officials of Indian security and law-enforcement establishments, the official said. The meeting between Wray and Sood focused on "strengthening exchange of ...

India's plan for 50,000 electric buses on its roads gets support from US

The new fund mechanism from the government is designed to mitigate manufacturers' risks as they access finance for fresh investments

USFDA pulls up Intas Pharma for manufacturing lapses at Ahmedabad plant

The US health regulator has pulled up Intas Pharmaceuticals for manufacturing lapses, including violation of current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulation, at its Ahmedabad-based plant. In a warning letter to the company's CEO and MD Nimish Chudgar, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has pointed out various manufacturing lapses at the Matoda-Sanand, Ahmedabad-based facility. A warning letter is issued when the US health regulator finds that a manufacturer has significantly violated its regulations. The USFDA inspected the facility from May 1-12, 2023. "This warning letter summarises significant violations of CGMP regulations for finished pharmaceuticals... Because your methods, facilities, or controls for manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding do not conform to CGMP, your drug products are adulterated," it noted. In the warning letter, the health regulator pointed out the company "failed to exercise its responsibility to ensure drug products manufactured