Sitharaman, Yellen hold talks on bolstering India-US economic ties

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday discussed ways to increase cooperation between India and the US amid increasing geopolitical uncertainties.

“Our meeting today will lend greater vigour to our economic relationship, strengthen business-to-business links, and facilitate coordinated policy stance to address the pressing global economic challenges,” Sitharaman said.

Yellen said that India-US’ ties can be instrumental for economic prosperity across the Indo-Pacific region, and that the US is looking forward to discussing shared priorities as India assumes the presidency of G-20.

“We also hope that the mutual understanding we build will help us work together to advance our shared goals, including mitigating the existential risk of climate change, evolving multilateral institutions, and addressing the debt burden faced by many developing countries,” Yellen added.

India’s membership in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) will make supply chains resilient between the Asian country and the United States and help the entire region, she said.

Sitharaman said: “We will continue to rely on close cooperation with the United States to address the global economic challenges in a more coordinated manner and in strengthening multilateralism.”

She said that the contours of the bilateral ties between the two democracies are based on mutual understanding of each one’s necessities and respecting the differences.

The meeting with Yellen assumes significance amid deepening India-Russia ties. Despite increasing pressure on India from the US and the west to condemn Russia after its Ukraine invasion, New Delhi refrained from calling out Moscow. Not just that. It has steadily increased imports of crude from Russia.

Sitharaman also said the Quad and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework have further expanded India-US cooperation. These platforms serve as important fora for a stronger collaboration in developing sustainable economies, ensuring global health security, resilient supply chains, clean energy technologies, green infrastructure and climate finance.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth and Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran were also present in the discussions.

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