U.S. India Strategic and Partnership Forum president Mukesh Aghi during an interview with PTI, in Washington, in the U.S. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

“India plays a pivotal role geopolitically from an American perspective and offers the U.S. companies the opportunity to de-risk from China in the manufacturing sector,” the head of a top India-centric American business and strategic advocacy group has said.

“The economic growth story of India is tremendous. India is among very few large economies which are growing 7-8%,” Mukesh Aghi, the president and CEO of the U.S.-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), said on Wednesday (October 9, 2024.) “From an American perspective, India plays a “pivotal role” geopolitically,” he said.

“India is one economy which is providing market opportunity, especially to the U.S. companies that come in and invest and gain market share. It is an economy which is providing de-risking from China itself in the manufacturing area,” Mr. Aghi told PTI in an interview.

“What we are seeing is the Indian economy is not just becoming a market opportunity, it’s becoming an opportunity for manufacturing. But more important is we are seeing a growth of global capability centres in India,” Mr. Aghi said. “The Indian economy is expected to gain momentum in 2025,” he said. India is exporting roughly almost $125 billion of services.

Mr. Aghi’s remarks came ahead of the annual India Leadership Summit of the USISPF on October 14. Several top American business leaders, including CEOs of Fortune 100, are heading to New Delhi to attend the event.

The summit will feature thought-provoking sessions and panel discussions to advance and strengthen the India-U.S. partnership.

“We have potential investors and also in startups and looking at technology companies. We have a perfect ecosystem looking at the U.S.-India relationship, both from a geopolitical perspective and also from a business perspective,” he said.

The USISPF’s visiting Board Delegation will convene in New Delhi and interact with India’s key decision-makers in a day-long agenda packed with riveting discussions to dissect the pertinent issues across trade, defence, technology, energy, and people-to-people ties.

“This is our annual summit where we assess the last 12 months of the progress between the two countries. That could be geopolitical. It could be economic. It could be people-to-people or technology itself, investment very much,” Mr. Aghi said.

He said, “At this time the USISPF, is playing the role of a matchmaker between American companies and India. Our agenda is to make sure that these companies invest in India, they create jobs in India, they bring in technology into India, and become part of the source of the de-risking supply chain.”

He said the stress point between China and the U.S. will go higher and deeper, regardless of who comes in after the November 5 Presidential election.

“China has its ambition. China also will not treat India as an equal partner. So, there’s an incentive for India to cautiously look at its partnership with China. But more important is that India needs to create jobs. I strongly believe it’s the U.S. companies who can bring in the investment, who can bring in the technology, who can bring in the governance structure, who can bring in the supply chain into India itself,” he said.

“Yes, there are other countries also, but I think the U.S., with its muscle, both from a technology perspective and also capital perspective, can help create jobs for 1.5 million Indians who are coming to the job market,” he said.

“India must leverage the United States both from a geopolitical- and an economic partnership perspective,” he said.

“I think when we look at the relationship, it is a win-win relationship, and the focus has to be on trying to drive at least top 50 companies coming to India and make them successful,” Mr. Aghi said.

INDUS-X, which stands for enhanced strategic and defence partnership between India and the U.S., was launched on June 21 last year.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

“The India-U.S. Defence Acceleration Ecosystem has advanced the commitment of the two strategic partners to building a defence innovation bridge under the Critical and Emerging Technology Initiative,” the U.S. has said on the partnership’s first anniversary.

INDUS-X, which stands for enhanced strategic and defence partnership between India and the U.S., was launched on June 21 last year by the U.S. Department of Defence and the Indian Ministry of Defence during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington, DC.

“In its first year, INDUS-X has advanced both countries’ commitment to build a defence innovation bridge under the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET),” the Department of Defence said in a press release on June 21.

The iCET was launched by Prime Minister Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the QUAD summit in Tokyo on May 24, 2022.

“INDUS-X has strengthened private sector cooperation between the United States and India by facilitating partnerships among defence technology companies, investors, and researchers,” the press release said.

“The third INDUS-X Summit will take place in Silicon Valley in September 2024 with a focus on harnessing private capital for defence innovation,” it said, citing a recent announcement by the White House.

The summit will be co-hosted by the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and Stanford University. The India-U.S. defence and strategic ties have been on an upswing in the last few years.

The two countries have inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their militaries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.

The two sides also signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 which provides for interoperability between the two militaries and also provides for the sale of high-end technology from the U.S. to India.

In October 2020, India and the U.S. sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) pact to further boost bilateral defence ties. The pact provides for the sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between the two countries.