New Delhi: Praising the Modi government's trade initiatives with United States, former US assistant secretary of defence Vikram Singh on Saturday said the high energy level in US and India means the countries will continue to make progress on high priority issues.
The bilateral trade between India and US has picked up steadily in the recent past and it has now touched US $10 billion with alarge component of defence equipments. America is now the largest supplier of defence equipments to India, he added.
Criticising India's Nehruvian model of economy CEO of Business Council for International Understanding Peter Tichansky said "We visited India in the early 1960s. Our report to the US Congress said that even if India moves its policies a fraction, India would be one of the top five economies in the world by the year 2000. Unfortunately, Indian bureaucracy is too complex and it has delayed the growth".
Indian and US bureaucracies must match leaders' dynamism, said former Indian ambassador and nuclear negotiator Rakesh Sood.
Observer Research Foundation fellow C Raja Mohan added that US and China have a strong relationship and India's ties are not very strong with the both.
The opening session also discussed the most contentious issues of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations and the climate change talks.
The pannel included Vikram Singh (former US assistance secretary of defense), Rakesh Sood (former ambassador and nuclear negotiator) and C Raja Mohan (distinguished fellow of ORF) along with American experts Rick Rossow (Centre for Strategic and International Studies) and Peter Tichansky (CEO of Business Council for International Understanding).
In the lead up to President Obama's historic second visit to India, The Observer Research Foundation and Network 18 have initiated the India-US Dialogues.
Comments
0 comment