Tag: america

US India Business Council president says India’s economic rise is going to be one of the greatest stories in the 21st century…reports Asian Lite News

US India Business Council (USIBC) president Atul Keshap on Thursday said India’s growth “is going to fuel America’s prosperity in the 21st century”.

Addressing the US-India Summit on US-India Economic Relations, Keshap said, “As India grows, it is clear that it will help fuel not only India’s prosperity, it’s also going to fuel America’s prosperity in the 21st century. So, let’s be more ambitious, let’s demand more of our government and let’s expect more liberalisation of trade and investment in both directions. The happiness of our people is at stake.”

The USIBC president also said he had never seen anywhere growing as fast as India. Keshap said India’s economic rise was going to be one of the happiest and greatest stories in the 21st century.

“The United States will complement that rise because we have a demographic advantage. We have an immigration and entrepreneurship engine in our country and we have vision, hope and, I think, great commitment to the future happiness of the United States, making India will help complement that.”

He said, “And so, we’ll make an America in a way it ensures that we have muscle and sinews and robust strength, to power the world. USIBC is committed to that, our numbers committed to that, US Chambers committed to that.”

On the Covid pandemic, he said, “The pandemic may have been a cruel master but it taught us — democracies — that however complicated and problematic in our process, at the end of the day democracies take care of their people and democracies can trust each other.

He added, “The pandemic reinforced the bond of trust and affection between the American and the Indian people.”

The USIBC president said, “What we need to do is push the accelerator. US and India have to achieve that ‘escape velocity’. That was a slogan given to me by a friend who is in the White House.”

GE working with India on jet engines for LCA, AMCA

GE is open to the transfer of technology to India for the indigenous manufacture of engines for light combat aircraft LCA Mark2 by 2028 as it does not want to lose a big market o Europe.

American Congressman Ro Khanna said, “Let’s make sure the GE Engines deal gets completed with India so we don’t lose out to Europe.” He stated that India and US need to be stronger on defence. He said that India wants jet engines and the first thing is to make sure that deal gets done before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US. On the commercial side, Air India announced the biggest-ever purchase by an Indian airline of aircraft and jet engines, including 400 single-aisle and 70 twin-aisle planes powered by engines built by GE and CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines. The blockbuster deal, ranking near the top of all deals worldwide, signalled the recovery of commercial aviation after years of Covid shutdown.

GE also announced agreements that deepen the company’s investment in India’s military. One expands GE’s most significant partnership within the Indian armed forces — its work with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the government’s aerospace and defense manufacturing firm.

HAL continues to assemble the GE F404 family of engines that have powered each generation of the Tejas, the light combat aircraft (LCA) that evolved from that project.

“We need to be stronger on defence, and this is a key time. India has realized that the Soviet military equipment doesn’t work as well. They realize Soviet Union is moving towards China, and they have really been open to building a strong relationship with America,” Ro Khanna said.

“They want these jet engines, and the first thing is to make sure that deal gets done, hopefully before the Prime Minister’s visit. And many of us are working on that,” he added.

Speaking about Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US, he said, “It’s going to be a historic trip.” He said that they are working to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets to make an address at the US Congress. He further said, “The co-chairs will be requesting the speaker to issue that invitation.”

Earlier in February, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman Samir Kamat said that GE-414 engines are going to be used in the LCA Mark2. He said that the discussions are ongoing regarding the GE and India is awaiting clearance by the US.

Samir Kamat said, “The GE-414 engines are going to be used in the LCA Mark2. The discussions with GE are underway and they are keen on it. We are just awaiting clearance by the US government.”

Kamat said the engines would be manufactured indigenously once the clearance comes through from the US government. He said that the matter was discussed during National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s visit to the United States.

“The matter was discussed during our NSA (Ajit Doval’s) recent US visit. The US government said it was open to it (indigenous manufacture of engines). Hopefully, in the next 3-6 months, an announcement of the transfer of technology will happen and these engines would be made in the country itself,” he said. (ANI)

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Like most Americans, Indian-Americans have been horrified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and have been appalled by images of death and destruction coming out of the battle-ravaged country, reports Yashwant Raj

Indian-Americans plan to issue a forceful denouncement of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to shield themselves from the fallout of the Indian government’s continued refusal to condemn the war, which has drawn widespread scrutiny and criticism from within and out of US policy circles.

A bipartisan group of well-connected Indian-American political operatives are expecting to hold a seminar on Capitol Hill on theme of “Indian Americans Against Genocide in Ukraine”, one of the organisers said. June 22 is the tentative date being considered and the event is likely to be headlined by a leading yoga guru and attended by many US lawmakers.

Indian-American speakers could include the four serving members of the US House of Representatives Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, all of whom have been extremely critical of the Russian invasion and both publicly and privately critical of India’s refusal to condemn it.

Politically-active Indian-Americans have been a key driver of the India-US relationship. They helped soften American backlash against India after the 1998 Pokhran II nuclear tests and, most significantly, rallied US lawmakers to pass a legislation that ended India’s nuclear isolation in 2008.

They have stood with the Indian government of the day in a notable display of bipartisan solidarity with their country of origin. And Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been popular with both Republican and Democratic Indian Americans. For the community to break so publicly with his government’s position on Ukraine should cause concern at 7 Race Course Road.

Like most Americans, Indian-Americans have been horrified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and have been appalled by images of death and destruction coming out of the battle-ravaged country.

They have also watched with growing disquiet the Modi government’s refusal to condemn the invasion and bristle at having to “either defend it or face scorn for it”. One Indian-American said he was asked by a Pennsylvania party official recently, “Why is India supporting the Russians?”

India is not supporting the Russian invasion. While it has refused to condemn it outrightly, it has made clear its opposition to it. New Delhi has called for the immediate cessation of hostilities and that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations must be respected. But all of that has been obscured by India abstaining in critical UN votes on the war.

“What the Russian Army has been doing in Ukraine is downright genocide,” said Shekhar Tiwari, a Republican operative who is also chairman of the American Hindu Coalition. He has been a close associate of several top BJP leaders. “Being a Hindu and a son of a Gandhian, it is hard for me to stomach,” he added.

These Indian-Americans are careful not to criticize the Indian government and insist they only want to express their horror over situation in Ukraine, which they described as a “genocide”, as has US President Joe Biden.

They have been concerned about the blowback they are getting for India’s position on the war and believe a public denouncement of Russia will, one, make clear the community feels as revolted as the rest of the country. And, two, that the community is “not in the pocket of the embassy”, as one these Indian-Americans put it.

Breaking with the Indian government over the Ukraine war will serve the twin purposes of signalling their own independence from the government of India and, two, convey their own feelings on the issue.

Some Indian-Americans have also argued, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, India needs to denounce Moscow and finally pick a side that will be strategically more meaningful.

Ramesh Kapur, a Democratic strategist who worked closely with the presidential campaign of Biden, says India’s refusal to condemn the Russian invasion could be problematic should it need US assistance in a conflict with China. “If India gets into a situation with China, it can expect support from the US, but if the US thinks it cannot count on India they will have a problem,” he said, taking a tactical view of India’s position, as has been put forth by many US lawmakers.

Congressman Khanna told Fox News in March that he thinks India “ought to be condemning Putin” and “they need to realize, they have to pick sides”. He had added: “We, the United States, were with them when China invaded India. Putin wasn’t there. And it’s time for them to buy weapons from the United States, not Russia. We’ve got to look at how we can facilitate that and make that easier. We need India as an ally ultimately to contain China.”

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