By Lalit K JhaWashington, Nov 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi'smeeting with President Donald Trump in the Philippines showsthe "strategic convergences" in geopolitics and economybetween India and the US, India's envoy Navtej Sarna has said.
Modi and Trump held their second bilateral meeting inManila on Monday, on the margins of the East Asia Summit inthe Philippines.
Modi held wide-ranging talks with Trump and told him thatboth nations can rise beyond bilateral ties and work jointlyfor the future of Asia, reflecting their growing convergenceon strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific region.
"President Trump and the prime minister have againunderlined the closeness that they have between them and thestrategic convergences both in geopolitical terms as well asin economic terms that India and the US have been working on,"Ambassador to the US Sarna said in his address to US lawmakersand representatives of the Indian corporate leadership at theCapitol Hill.
He was speaking on the occasion of the release of areport 'Indian Roots, American Soil' by the Confederation ofIndian Industry, according to which 100 Indian companies inthe US account for USD 17.9 billion in investment and forgenerating 113,000 jobs in the US.
The India-US closeness and strategic convergences hasbeen evident in the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the US andsubsequent visits of Defence Secretary Jim Mattis andSecretary of State Rex Tillerson to India and now again in themeeting between the president and Prime Minister Modi, Sarnasaid.
Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the USCongress, said it is an exciting time for the US and India.
"We have seen a continued growth and momentum buildingaround strengthening of relationship between our twocountries," she said.
"The centerpiece and kind of a strong foundation of thatrelationship has always been centered around growth of tradeand commerce between the two countries", she said.
In 2016, the trade of all US goods and services withIndia totaled USD 114 billion dollars.
Indian companies, she said, have not only added value toUS economy but are investing in American communities as well,she said.
India was America's ninth largest trading partner lastyear, accounting for nearly USD 70 billion in trade which haslaid a strong foundation for the two countries to uphold theircommitment to.
"There is much work to be done," she noted.
Congressman Ami Bera said US-India ties is not arelationship that stops when a new administration comes intothe office.
"It is one that as (former) President (Barack) Obama saidcan be the defining partnership of the 21st century. I trulybelieve that," he said.
"An example of that is you know we just walked off theHouse floor voting for our Defence Authorisation Act. In thereis a paragraph talking about India becoming a Major DefencePartner. There are unique opportunities for American andIndian companies to work together...India has the desire tobuy some of our military hardware, how do we make thateasier...looking at the export control regime on our end," hesaid.
Referring to his recent visit to Japan, Bera said theJapanese are "very bullish" on India.
"The Japanese are very bullish on India and thepartnership and possibility of trilateral and evenquadrilateral relationships," he said.
According to influential Congressman Ted Yoho, Modi saidjust recently following his meeting with Trump that relationsbetween the US and India are not just for our mutual interestsbut they go much beyond that.
"I think that speaks loudly of those beliefs," he said.
"We have the longest serving democracy in the world.
(India) has the largest one. And together we can do some greatthings," Yoho said.
More than a dozen influential lawmakers spoke on theoccasion. PTI LKJ UZM AKJUZM.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.