India, US need concerted efforts to advance business, people-to-people linkages post COVID-19: Top envoy

06/16/2020

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Financial Express

In the post-COVID world, India and the US should take concerted and focused efforts to advance the remarkable business and people-to-people linkages between the two countries, according to New Delhi’s top envoy here.

Speaking on the occasion of the release of the report “Indian Roots, American Soil” by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Monday, India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu noted that the coronavirus pandemic has given both countries new opportunities to step up bilateral cooperation.

“In the post-COVID world, we will need concerted and focused efforts to advance these remarkable businesses and people-to-people linkages between our two countries,” he said.

“The current pandemic has presented us with new opportunities for cooperation and has made us recognize the need for collaborations more than ever before,” he said.

Based on the survey of 155 Indian companies, the CII report highlights Indian investments across sectors and states in the US. With presence in diverse sectors, like IT, pharma, manufacturing, automotive, energy, defense, etc, these companies have invested close to USD 22 billion in the US and employed around 125,000 people, he said.

Critical reforms have been introduced recently by the Government of India to promote business and attract investment. The reforms include supply chain reforms for agriculture, rational tax system, simple and clear laws, capable human resources, and a strong financial system. These are long pending reform measures in critical sectors. The idea is to transform the crisis into an opportunity,” Sandhu said.

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