Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s State visit to Washington on June 22, 2023, was historic — the first for an Indian head of state in 14 years, and only the third for an Indian leader in 75 years since Indian Independence. It unambiguously demonstrated the Biden administration’s intense desire to cultivate India as a durable, long-term partner in a variety of realms, including in the United States’ strategic competition with China for the foreseeable future. It also conveyed to citizens of both countries and a wider global audience the full range of areas of cooperation and collaboration between them — from defence trade to emerging technologies, such as in Artificial Intelligence and space exploration.
A central role for trade
In comparison with the substantial progress in many areas, the economic, and more specifically, trade relationship between the two countries, is growing — surpassing U.S.$120 billion — but it continues to underperform relative to the sheer potential. If this strategic partnership lives up to its billing as one of the most consequential in this century, then trade must be pushed to a more central role as the U.S.-India story continues to unfold. India is exhibiting a remarkable openness to negotiating new trade relationships with important partners around the world and is demonstrating genuine commitment to revisiting long-standing positions, even as it pursues policies to attract and grow domestic manufacturing value chains and reduce over-dependencies on other countries. In the last two years, the Narendra Modi government has inked new free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United Arab Emirates and Australia and launched or reinvigorated negotiations for parallel deals with the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
