`Indian jet deal could create 27,000 jobs in US`

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 16 (PTI) The Obama Administration is
eyeing on the lucrative multi-billion dollar tender for medium
multi-role combat aircraft of Indian Air Force as this has the
potential to create a whooping 27,000 jobs in the US.
At a time, when unemployment rate continues to be at low
ebb and US President Barack Obama is struggling to create
fresh jobs; such a deal bagged by an American company could
give him a big political boost.
Two major fighter jet manufacturing companies – Boeing
and Lockheed Martin – are vying for the USD 10 billion Indian
tender; which is expected to be raised by the US officials
during the November India visit of the US President.
"If either jet wins, we estimate that it could bring
27,000 jobs to the US," Assistant Secretary of State for South
and Central Asia Robert Blake told a Baltimore-based think
tank, thus indicating the importance US attaches to bagging
such a deal.
"Equally important, it will help seal our strategic
objective of working wing-to-wing with India to bolster global
security and stability," Blake said.
India is the world's largest democracy, one of the
world's fastest growing economies, and a rising power in Asia
and beyond.
It has vibrant democratic institutions, a free press, a
robust civil society, and an innovative private sector, he
said.
"India's commitment to the values cherished by their
people and espoused by their founders – democracy, pluralism,
tolerance, openness, and respect for fundamental freedoms and
human rights – animate our continued efforts to build a more
peaceful, prosperous, inclusive, secure, and sustainable
world," he said.
"These common values and our increasingly convergent
interests have driven an unprecedented transformation in
Indo-US relations in just one decade.
After the Cold War, President Bill Clinton seized upon
India's rapid economic emergence and liberalisation to lay the
foundation for this transformation through his iconic five-day
trip to India in the year 2000," Blake said.
"The Bush Administration built upon the Clinton legacy,
with the US-India Civil Nuclear Deal – a landmark achievement
for both of our countries.
Today, the wide scope and the intensity of our bilateral
engagement is unprecedented and yet still growing," he said.
"President Obama had called India our "indispensable"
partner for the 21st century.
That's why the President and Secretary Clinton are now
forging a new strategic partnership with India that will help
shape the 21st century," Blake said. PTI