Foreign Secretary Misri meets top American officials ahead of EAM Jaishankar’s visit
| 2024-12-24
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Ambassador Vinay Kwatra with senior US officials in Washington on December 23, 2024.
Senior US official highlights the growth in India-US ties across a wide spectrum of areas
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met senior American officials ahead of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to the United States from December 24-29, 2024.
EAM Jaishankar’s visit, announced by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday (December 23, 2024), will be the first high-level engagement between the two nations following Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.
On the eve of the visit, the Indian Foreign Secretary met with Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Deputy Secretary for Management Richard Verma to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues. India’s Ambassador to the US and former Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra was also present in the meetings.
“Great to welcome Indian Foreign Secretary @VikramMisri & Indian Ambassador to the U.S. @AmbVMKwatra back to @StateDept, alongside @DeputySecState Campbell. We look forward to continuing to grow #USIndia ties rooted in mutual trust, shared values, & prosperity for all,” Verma said on social media platform X.
Earlier in the day, Verma hosted a roundtable for a group of India experts which was also attended by Kwatra. “Glad to once again welcome Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Vinay Kwatra and key partners in #USIndia cooperation to @StateDept to celebrate our progress on trade, defense, people-to-people ties, and commitment to tackling global challenges together,” Verma said on X.
He also made a presentation, ‘US-India Relations: By the Numbers’, to highlight the growth in bilateral ties across a wide spectrum of areas:
The two way trade between India and the US has increased from USD 20 billion in 2000 to USD 195 billion in 2023, while the defence trade has jumped from zero to USD 24 billion during the same period.Two way trade is expected to cross the USD 200 billion mark in 2024.
India is the top military exercise partner of the US during 2024 with joint exercises Malabar (naval), Yudh Abhyas (army), Cope India (air force), Vajra Prahar (counter-terrorism), and Tiger Triumph (amphibious).
The number of Indian students in the US has gone up from 54,664 in 2000 to 331,600 in 2023.
The diaspora population in the US has grown from 1.9 million to more than 5 million over the same period.
The US was the biggest source of remittances to India in 2023.
20% of unicorns in the US have Indian migrants as founders/co-founders.
Over 1 million visas were issued by the US Mission in India in 2023.
There are plans for new India consulates in Boston and Los Angeles; the US plans to open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
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