Biden Meets Indian Business Honchos To Boost Trade

Mumbai: Biden, who is in India’s commercial capital on the second leg of his tour, met the Indian business leaders, shortly after delivering a speech at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai.He arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit.

Biden held discussions with Ratan Tata, former head of Tata Group, Azim Premji, chief of Wipro, Pratyush Kumar, president of Boeing in India, and other business leaders at the Taj Mahal hotel here for nearly an hour.

The talks were “full and frank”, Biden said later.

“There was an honest discussion about how both governments - the Indian government as well as U.S. - could be productive in reducing trade barriers that have an impact on trade and commerce,” the U.S. vice president said.

U.S. businesses and members of Congress have voiced concern over the “buy India” mandate, which requires a percentage of technology goods in the country to be manufactured locally.

The U.S. has also voiced concerns over India’s intellectual property regime, which the US feels hampers India’s ability to attract foreign investment. These policies, the U.S. feels, “distort” trade and investment and “discourage” innovation.

After meeting with business heads, Biden said India and the United States are “not at odds on any strategic objective”, but need to find ways to take the Indo-U.S. relationship forward.

“We mean what we say when we say that the relationship between India and the U.S. has unlimited potential and there is no reason why trade, commerce and intercourse between our countries can’t increase exponentially over time,” he said.

Biden emphasised that both sides share a common goal of empowering their middle classes. The U.S. is focused on “reinforcing the middle class” with good jobs, better access to healthcare and opportunities for a dignified retirement, he said, while India hopes to “generate the largest middle class in the history of humanity” to deal with poverty and raise standards of living.

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