India and US need each other economically: American envoy

India and the US need each other economically and the two countries should help power global economic growth and create economic opportunities and jobs, American Ambassador to India Richard Verma has said.
"India and the US need each other economically," he said speaking at the Brookings Institute, a top US think-tank.
"We both need to help power global economic growth; we rely on the collaborative science, exploration, and innovation that will bring new discoveries for our people; and we both need to create economic opportunities and jobs for our people," he said in his remarks.
Verma said that in the last decade the two countries have made dramatic progress in virtually every category of cooperation and the statistics are compelling.

In 2005, the two-way trade numbers were around USD 30 billion. Today, they stand at USD 104 billion, and the two countries are aiming to get that number up to USD 500 billion.
"In just the last three months, bilateral trade increased by well over USD 5 billion with the conclusion of Boeing's USD 3.3 billion Apache/Chinook deal and the USD 2.6 billion GE agreement to provide India's vast railway network with next-generation locomotives, many of which will be made and assembled in India," the Ambassador said.

As against 30,000 Indian students studying in the US this year, the number of Indian students increased by almost 30 per cent over last year to more than 132,000.

The growth in Indian students was greater than from any other country, and India is second only to China in the number of students currently in the United States, he said.
The same goes for visitors - in 2005, we had close to 400,000 Indians visiting the US. This year was the highest.
"We processed over 1 million visa applications. Our Mission in India processes more H and L employment visas than anywhere in the world.Last year, Indians received 69 per cent of H and 30 per cent of L visas issued worldwide," he said.
Cumulative Indian foreign direct investment in the US totalled USD 7.8 billion in 2014. The US foreign direct investment into India was USD 28 billion, he said.

An increasing number of Indian-owned firms contribute to US jobs, exports, and growth, he added.
Ongoing government actions to facilitate trade in both directions and open new sectors to private investment will continue to accelerate not only economic growth and development, but also increase prosperity for the citizens of both the countries, the Ambassador said.
"While we've achieved a strong, solid record of performance, our leaders believe we can do more, and I know we can do much more," Verma said.
"That's why we are redoubling our efforts to increase two-way trade, taking on the 'ease of doing business' factors that tend to deter US companies and investors, such as tax and legal uncertainty and easing the regulatory burden," he said.

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"The president has indicated the strong US commitment to
helping India join the Nuclear Suppliers Group. We believe that India inside the Nuclear Suppliers Group would create an opportunity for India to exhibit leadership in non-proliferation which it has demonstrated in many, many years," he said.
Reminding the audience that the nuclear issue created friction between the two countries for many, many decades, Lavoy praised the previous Bush administration that concluded the first civil nuclear deal with India and in 2008 there was an agreement with the NSG to provide an exception to India to enable supply of peaceful nuclear technology material. That was the landmark deal.

"This year, in 2016, India ought to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group and every effort is being made to ensure that India can occupy place of leadership inside the NSG this year," Lavoy said in response to a question.
Lavoy said India and the US have shared interest in counter-terrorism, in protecting their societies from the scourge of terrorism and working together to eliminate the threat posed by terror outfits.
He referred to the statement issued by the White House after National Security Advisor Susan Rice spoke to her Indian counterpart Ajit Doval in which she condemned "cross-border terrorism" from Pakistan after the Uri attack that killed 19 Indian soldiers.

Regretting that the SAARC summit was not held this year, the White House official said SAARC has not lived up to the potential of that of other regional groupings like ASEAN.
Refraining from giving details of his recent meetings with the Pakistani envoys, he said they were carrying messages from Prime Minister Sharif.
"We certainly do not believe that situation in Afghanistan is linked with the situation in Kashmir. We are very concerned about bringing peace, stability and eventually prosperity to all Afghans. It is a very, very tall order," he said.
"Afghans and Afghanistan have been afflicted by war and human suffering for too many decades and it is the priority of this administration to provide political and economic security to uplift them from their sufferings," he said adding everyone in the world recognises this and the international community is committed to working together in this regard.