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US India Business Council (USIBC) has urged New Delhi and America to take steps to strengthen bilateral trade relationship to realise their "true business potential".
During his testimony before the US International Trade Commission tomorrow on "Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the US Economy," USIBC president Ron Somers will call on both countries to overcome challenges and strengthen their partnership, a media release said yesterday.
"This will pave the way for the world's two largest free-market democracies to shape the destiny of the 21st Century - for the better," Somers said in his prepared testimony, according to the release.
India's size, economic prominence, geopolitical influence and shared values with America make it an indispensable ally, Somers argues, therefore any and all policy discussions about India should operate from that understanding.
With a population of 1.24 billion people, more than half under the age of 25, India is poised "to become the world's largest consumer market," he said.
These facts, coupled with the growth of India's middle-class present "an extremely lucrative market for American goods and services.
"Since President George W Bush visited India in 2006, two-way trade has grown from approximately $25 billion to more than $100 billion today," he said.
