Confederation of Indian Industry engages U.S. counterparts in Washington

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Washington DC: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which is leading an annual CEO delegation to the nation’s capital to engage with its US partners, lawmakers, and think tanks hosted “India Reception,” on September 19, 2022, at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel. CII undertook its last CEO delegation to US in 2018.

During his address, President of CII, Sanjiv Bajaj, stated India is currently the fastest growing economy. “But what’s equally special is our relationship with US, and our bilateral trade in the past year that has jumped 45 percent, and for the first time it has crossed $100 billion in multiple sectors.”

Welcoming the delegation, Indian Ambassador to US, Taranjit Sandhu said the CEOs who were present represented India’s success story and in many cases the story of India-US partnership. He stated, “it gives me a lot of happiness here to see the Indian companies and to share what CII studies and many other industries studies have shown that actually Indian companies are bringing in strength, resilience, competitiveness, and are adding value to the United States.”

He went on to emphasize that India has not only become the fifth largest economy, but globally also the fastest growing economy this decade. The speed and scale of economic reforms are making India an excellent place to do business, hire talent, and manufacture for the world.

Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH), co-chair of the House India Caucus noted over the years the US-India relationship has truly grown into an increasingly strong and multifaceted partnership, from defense ties to the growing Indian American diaspora. “As we mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two countries, the bilateral relationship is set to grow even more robustly,” adding “on the strategic side, the United States and India have greatly benefited from a burgeoning geostrategic partnership. Of course, the flagship initiative in this space, the Quad, which brings together the Indo-Pacific leading democracies to foster a free and open Indo-Pacific region that’s actually working in many ways.”

Avnish Patnaik, Lead International, Society of Indian Defense Manufacturers (SIDM), set up by CII in 2017, told News India Times, “this is the first time SIDM is undertaking a defense delegation, alongside CII’s delegation, in US to engage with its stakeholders in defense and aerospace sectors in Washington DC and Virginia. We are here to continue the ongoing relationship with our stakeholders, understand where Indian industry could fit into US requirements, and figure out opportunities and areas to collaborate.”

Patnaik informed that the delegation met with the National Defense Industrial Association, SIDM’s counterpart that represents over 1800 US companies and engages heavily with the US Department of Defense on national security matters. Among other engagements, SIDM’s delegation also met with Boeing, Fairfax County in Virginia, Senior Fellow and Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, Lisa Curtis, in addition to participating in a round table hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce.