Indo-US business ties no longer a one way street: Blake

Washington, Oct 2 (PTI) Recognising massive investment
made by top Indian companies like Reliance, Mahindra and
Mahindra, a senior Obama Administration official has said that
the business relationship between India and the US are no
longer a one way street.
"No longer are US-India business ties a one way
street," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central
Asia Robert Blake said at the 27th Annual Mahatma Gandhi
Memorial Lecture at the San Diego State University in
California.
"In fact, a new poll conducted by the Chicago Council
on Global Affairs, however, shows that Americans have an
increasingly favourable view of India, and Americans
increasingly favour a free trade agreement with India, a
figure that has risen nine per cent points in just 4 years,"
Blake said.
He said he predicts that this positive sentiment would
only continue to rise, as both the Americans and the Indians
see the huge and growing synergies between the two countries.
"Mukesh Ambani, owner of the behemoth Indian company
Reliance Industries, expects to create approximately thousands
of US jobs and infuse enormous amounts of capital to explore
for and develop shale gas here in the United States," he said.
"Mahindra and Mahindra group's wholly-owned subsidiary
Mahindra USA sells lower horsepower tractors to farmers across
the country. The tractors are assembled at three facilities in
Texas, Tennessee, and here in California. They are also
planning future investments in the United States," he said.
Thinking about the emergence of developing powers – be
they India, China, Brazil or even Turkey – tends to focus on
how the growth of these nations could adversely affect
economic conditions here in the United States, he said.
"But a recent study by India's Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry showed that Indian firms are
investing almost as much here in the US as their American
counterparts are in India," Blake said.
In mid-June, Qualcomm won a significant share of
India's next generation wireless service, by paying over a
billion dollars to provide coverage in large swaths of both
New Delhi and Mumbai. It will partner with two Indian-based
telecommunication firms to provide exceptional mobile
broadband coverage for millions of Indians, he noted.
"It speaks to the interconnectedness of our two
nations that an US firm – based right here in San Diego – will
be an integral part of creating faster wireless networks in
India, a key component of commerce, health care, innovation,
and the further development of our knowledge-based economy,"
Blake said. MORE PTI