Rama Krishna Sangem
Current strain in the relations between the US and India are temporary. All issues concerning them will be sorted out soon, as the mutual interests of the two countries are strong enough to withstand any turbulence, said Sudhakar Gande, chairman of US India SME Council, investment banker and tech entrepreneur.
Gande was delivering the keynote address at the US India SME Council’s 4th Annual Incredible Inc awards event held at Maryland, Washington DC in the US on September 24. US India SME Council CEO Elisha Pulivarti, Dr Sanjay Rai, Maryland Higher Education Secretary, Maryland Governor Philip D Murphy, Panama ambassador, OAS (Organization of American States), Ana Irene Delagado and other recipients participated in the event.
In his speech, Gande said “Extremely happy and thrilled to be at this US India SME Council’s annual Incredible Inc awards presentation event here.Nice to see many familiar faces here. India SME council events getting matured over the years”.
He said that the current strain in the US – India relationship was temporary and the issues concerning the two counties will be sorted out soon. Our India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is currently in the US and is in discussions with his counterparts here to sort out the differences. I am sure a trade agreement will be signed in next few months.
Growth under PM Modi leadership
“Growth of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership is phenomenal. Providing free ration to about 81 crore Indians, constructing four crore houses for the rural and urban poor, opening about 50 crore Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts for the poor are some of the achievements of the Modi government transformed India’s face in the last 11 years, said Gande.
Gande spoke of the extraordinary success of digital economy in India. About 49 per cent of all the digital transactions of the world do now happen in India. Massive infrastructure plans have created big employment. India now has become the fourth largest economy in the world and soon is set to become the third largest economy.
India’s GDP has been consistently growing at above 6 percent for several years and will continue to grow at the same for several more years to come , making India one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
India is an important market for any country in world including US. Now it’s India time for next few decades and every country in the world would like to do business with India. India has a large young population, very large middleclass resulting in potential market for any global company.
India-US are strategic partners
India -US are strategic partners for a long time and will remain same for the years to come. PM Modi and President Trump are good friends and both are committed to increase the trade between both the countries from current level of $ 200 billion to $ 500 billion by 2030, said Gande.
SME’s continue to be the backbone for both the economies and some data points to support this argument The SMEs contribute nearly 80 per cent of Boeing and Airbus ‘s cost.
Growth of electronics manufacturing in India is phenomenal. Growth of Apple’s iphones manufacturing in India has risen from $ 14 billion to $ 22.5 billion in the last one year. India helped Apple to derisk its manufacturing from China. Now 20 % of all Apple phones are manufactured in India, said Gande.,
Gande spoke of other key issues relating to future of the US – India relationship. India and US are world’s largest and oldest democracies and share common values and strategic interests to purse. Indian – Americans should play very significant role in promoting strong ties between both the countries, said Sudhakar Gande.
