According to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s State Visit to the United States next week would be a chance to strengthen India-US commercial and strategic technological collaborations. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will greet Modi as a State Guest in Washington DC on June 22. On the same day, he will address a joint session of the United States Congress. Later in the day, the President and First Lady will host Modi for a State Dinner.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s next state visit will provide an opportunity for the two countries to increase their focus on commercial and strategic technology partnerships in defense, clean energy, and medical supply chain.
Modi’s upcoming visit on June 22, “will be an opportunity to elevate our focus to commercial and strategic technology partnerships, including in defense, sending medical supply chain, clean energy and space”, she said in a recorded video at the annual India Ideas summit hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC).
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called the visit “historic”, in his address at the inaugural event of the summit.
During the commercial dialogue, the two countries also announced the formation of a new working group to encourage innovation and employment growth, particularly in emerging technologies, by leveraging the two countries’ powerful trade and investment ties and shared entrepreneurial spirit. “We intend to lift and connect our dynamic innovation ecosystems, address regulatory barriers to collaboration, and further strengthen our shared vision of an elevated strategic technology partnership,” Raimondo added.
She said that the United States is collaborating with India as part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which she described as the administration’s overarching framework for increasing economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. “Last month, we announced the substantial completion of a first-of-its-kind international supply chain agreement.” The IPEF partners will strive to expand their reach the resilience, diversity, and security of our supply chains through individual and collective actions through the proposed agreement,” Raimondo said.