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Issue 28

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US ‘doubling down’ on boosting trade with ‘critical partner’ India, says Assistant Commerce Secretary Venkataraman

1 www.indoustribune.com

Friday, 17 May 2024

VOL: 01 • ISSUE: 28

By Arul Louis

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ndia has emerged as a “critical partner” for the US which is “doubling down” on it for trade and working on further boosting economic ties, according to a senior US trade official. Assistant Commerce Secretary Arun Venkataraman said, “I genuinely believe that this is very much a heyday of this bilateral economic relationship” between India and the US. “We are doubling down on India and finding more ways to collaborate and grow that economic integration,” he told reporters on Thursday ahead of the World Trade Week in New York. India “has become an even more critical partner for the US,” he said. “We are amazed by the incredible deepening of the collaboration that’s happened in the last few years with India.” According to the US International Trade Administration, total trade in goods and services between India and the US topped $191 billion in 2022, almost doubling from 2014. Foreign direct investment (FDI) from the US reached $103 billion during the 2022-23 fiscal year, while Indian FDI flows to the US reached $14.4 billion in 2021 providing for more than 72,000 US jobs.

17 MAY 2024

MIDWEST EDITION www.indoustribune.com We serve community first

EAM Jaishankar takes dig at Canada, says freedom of speech cannot be freedom to support separatism and terrorism in foreign country IndoUS Tribune Newsdesk

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argeting the Justin Trudeau government for giving refuge to pro-Khalistani elements, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Thursday said that further deterioration in bilateral ties would eventually result in a big loss for Canada. “Freedom of speech cannot be freedom to advocate violence, freedom of speech cannot be freedom to support separatism and terrorism in a foreign country. It cannot be... A group of Khalistanis have been misusing Canada’s freedom laws for years. But when the Canadian government has any political compulsions, they accommodate these people who are also their vote bank,” said the EAM while speaking at ‘Vishwabandhu Bharat’ interaction in Nashik, Maharashtra. As pro-Khalistani elements continue

to indulge in anti-India activities, New Delhi has conveyed to Ottawa on several occasions that democratic countries which respect the rule of law should not allow

US refutes allegations of meddling in Indian elections

Asked by a reporter if the US would consider a free trade agreement with India, Venkataraman did not directly address the possibility, instead pointing to India’s participation with the US and 12 other countries in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) launched in 2022.

“We’re focused on getting that (IPEF) implemented” and making sure “that we avoid some of the vulnerabilities that we all learned during the pandemic,” he added. While most of the attention to keeping the Indo-Pacific region free and open has been focused on strategic issues, Venkataraman emphasized the critical role of the IPEF. The Tamil Nadu-born Venkataraman holds the Global Markets portfolio in the Commerce Department in addition to being the Director-General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service.

See Pg. 02

India-US ties passing through ‘historic era’, won’t be affected by Pannun case: US Ambassador Garcetti

IndoUS Tribune Newsdesk

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“Free trade agreements are a fantastic tool and can be very effective, but I think we should also remember the free trade agreements are only one tool in the toolkit,” he said. Right now, he said that the IPEF “is addressing key elements that you don’t find in free trade agreements, addressing the urgencies of the day”.

intimidation by radical elements in the name of freedom of expression.

IndoUS Tribune Newsdesk

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he US has denied any involvement in India’s ongoing Lok Sabha elections, saying that it has adopted the same policy for such events taking place anywhere in the world. “Of course, we don’t involve ourselves in elections in India, as we don’t involve ourselves in elections anywhere in the world. Those are decisions for the people of India to make,” US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a media briefing in Washington on Thursday. Miller was responding to a question asking for his reaction to Russian Foreign Ministry

spokesperson Maria Zakharova’s comments on Wednesday where she had said that the US is trying to “complicate” the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in India, by making “regular unfounded accusations” on threats to religious freedom in the country. The US State Department official also refused to react to the ongoing investigation on the alleged plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. “There is a publicly-returned indictment that contains alleged facts. They’re allegations until they’re proven before a jury that anyone can go and read. I won’t speak to them here because, of course, it’s an ongoing legal matter. And I’ll leave it at that,” said Miller.

alling it the “most consequential relationship” that is passing through a “historic era”, US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, asserted on Tuesday that the ongoing investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate Sikh radical Gurpatwant Singh Pannun will not affect ties between Washington and New Delhi. “How we manage those moments defines the strength of a relationship... I would say our work every single day at the embassy, every single day at the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Embassy in Washington, has not slowed down one bit,” Garcetti told NDTV in an exclusive interview. Last November, the US prosecutors had alleged a foiled plot to assassinate Pannun, a US citizen and head of the pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), on behalf of an Indian government employee.

See Pg. 02


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