Economic ties at heart of India-U.S. strategic partnership, says Secretary of State Blinken

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken added that last year, trade between the two countries reached a record $191 billion, making the U.S. the largest trading partner for India

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state Visit, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said economic ties are at the heart of the Indo-U.S. strategic partnership and added that the two countries are helping shape innovations of the future and the norms governing them.

Mr. Modi has been invited by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for an official state visit, which will include a State Dinner on June 22.

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Addressing the annual India Ideas Summit of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) here on Monday, Mr. Blinken said, "At the heart of our strategic partnership is our economic ties. And under the leadership of President Biden and Prime Minister Modi — and private sector leaders like you — it is growing stronger by the day." Mr. Blinken added that last year, trade between the two countries reached a record $191 billion, making the U.S. the largest trading partner for India. American companies have invested at least $54 billion in India — from manufacturing to telecommunications.

In the U.S., he said, Indian companies have invested over $40 billion — in IT, pharmaceuticals and more — supporting 4,25,000 jobs from California to Georgia.

This February, Air India announced the historic purchase of more than 200 Boeing aircraft that will support an estimated one million-plus jobs across 44 States, the diplomat said during his address.

"We're here ahead of a historic State Visit by Prime Minister Modi — one that will further solidify what President Biden has called a 'defining relationship' of the 21st century," Mr. Blinken said. "We see this defining relationship in our unique connection as the world's oldest and largest democracies, with a special obligation to demonstrate that our governments can deliver for and empower all our citizens." Mr. Blinken said both the U.S. and India are making transformative investments in their own countries — through Mr. Biden's $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Mr. Modi's ₹100-trillion infrastructure plan — to make their respective economies more productive and attractive for investors.