India and the US enjoy very strong bilateral relations

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday held a telephonic conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and reviewed upcoming bilateral engagements, Covid-19 pandemic and supply of vaccines.

The two officials also exchanged their views on Indo-Pacific, Middle East, UNSC and India’s neighbourhood.

This development took place almost a week after US Charge’ d’ Affaires Patricia Lacina called on Foreign Secretary Shringla and discussed the Covid-19 pandemic, India-US relations and regional issues of mutual interest.

India--the US bilateral relations have developed into a global strategic partnership, based on shared democratic values and increasing convergence of interests on bilateral, regional and global issues.

On December 13, 2021, the two countries held annual bilateral Consular Dialogue and discussed areas of mutual interest, including cooperation for expeditious resolution of consular issues, facilitation of visas, extradition matters, provision of consular services to expatriate citizens, familial issues related to child custody, marriages, adoption and facilitation of travel between the two countries.

Regular exchange of high-level political visits has provided sustained momentum to bilateral cooperation, while the wide-ranging and ever-expanding dialogue architecture has established a long-term framework for India-U.S. engagement.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India-US bilateral cooperation is broad-based and multi-sectoral, covering trade and investment, defence and security, education, science and technology, cyber security, high-technology, civil nuclear energy, space technology and applications, clean energy, environment, agriculture and health.

Vibrant people-to-people interaction and support across the political spectrum in both countries nurture bilateral relationship between the two countries. Political Relations: The frequency of high-level visits and exchanges between India and the US has gone up significantly of late, the MEA said.

In September 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a very successful visit to the US during which he had a maiden bilateral meeting with President Joe Biden and had a candid and substantial exchange with like-minded Quad leaders at their first in-person summit.

On the trade front, the US remains India’s biggest trading partner and largest export market with trade jumping from approximately $20 billion in 2001 to over $145 billion in 2019.