Harsh Vardhan Shingla, former foreign secretary and G20 chief coordinator, has said the message one gets from the US government on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit is that, it attaches “enormous importance” to the relationship.
Shingla, also India’s former ambassador to the US, also pointed out in an interview to PTI on Sunday night, that the strategic relationship between the two nations has deepened with India becoming a technological collaborator with joint manufacturing and joint research and development in state-of-the-art equipment.
“From the US government side, the message that you get (on Modi’s visit to Washington) is that they attach enormous importance to the relationship,” Shingla told PTI, adding that the trip was “clearly the most significant” of the eight visits of the Prime Minister to the US.
Shingla was Indian ambasador to Washington between January 2019-January 2020, when he took over as foreign secretary. During his tenure in the US, the ‘Howdy Modi’ event took place in Houston, Texas.
“In terms of takeaways – at a strategic level, we have gone to a level of collaboration (with) joint manufacture, joint development and joint R&D to build state-of-the-art equipment in our defence industries,” the top diplomat said, referring to a number of defence technology agreements including a GE-Hindustan Aeronautics pact to jointly make F414 engines which were signed during the recently concluded Prime Ministerial visit to the US.
Prime Minister Modi visited the United States from June 21-23 to a red carpet welcome which included meetings with thought leaders and business magnates, bilateral meeting with President Joe Biden, addressing a joint sitting of the US Congress, and taking part in the state dinner organised by Biden and the First Lady Jill Biden.
The former foreign secretary also pointed out that a second key takeaway was the collaboration in technology – initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) – at a time when technology is changing at a “very fast pace”.
Shingla also underlined how the joining together of a resource rich nation and a nation with critical human resources could deliver a resilient supply chain in products emanating from tech collaborations.
He pointed out that the third big takeaway was in the field of business and investment with major players such as Tesla, Amazon, Google and Micron committing to multi-billion dollar investments into India.
“So you are not only bringing in companies which will invest in India but in hi-tech industries where a lot of difference will be made in the economic space,” Shingla said.
Speaking of the role of the Indian diaspora, meetings with whom were part of the PM’s visit, the former foreign secretary described its role as a “driving force in the Indo-US relationship.”
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