President Biden has referred to as the U.S.-India relationship “the defining partnership of the 21st century.”  Prime Minister Modi has stated our nations’ ties are “shaping lives, dreams, and destinies.” 

There’s no query that the connection has not moved in a straight line over its 77 years.  It is constructed on an exceptionally stable basis – one which’s solely getting stronger.  This is the place the lengthy view is vital.  So, let me take you again in time.

One of America’s first consulates was in Kolkata.  Some of the good American and Indian philosophers, writers, and social justice advocates of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries had been related and mutually impressed by each other.  From Dewey to Ambedkar.  From Emerson and Thoreau to Tagore and Gandhi.  The mutual inspiration and studying runs deep. 

Mahatma Gandhi would write to President Roosevelt in 1942 and comment that “you’ve given me a gift in the writings of Thoreau.”  Decades later, Dr. Martin Luther King would discover comparable inspiration within the writings of Gandhi.  

Following India’s independence, our political leaders had been sensible to grasp India’s crucial significance they usually got down to construct a real partnership.  Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy had been all dedicated to seeing a powerful U.S.-India relationship. 

“This is the kind of future that I see together: two great countries, with their people united in common cause to make the world a better place.”

RICHARD R. VERMA DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE FOR MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCES

Then, considerably quickly, India and the United States went their separate methods.  For practically 25 years, the 2 nations grew distant, some would say “estranged,” faraway from our shared values, all of the whereas remaining considerably cordial.  We misplaced a era of cooperation.

Then, it was within the 12 months 2000, with President Clinton’s go to, that we started to see the thaw in ties and the launch of a full-scale partnership. 

For the subsequent 24 years, we grew dramatically in each side of our cooperation. 

We went from 0 {dollars} in protection gross sales to now being main protection companions, co-production companions, and conducting probably the most complicated of workout routines in each side. 

Our bilateral commerce went from $20 billion in 2000 to over $200 billion right now.

We’ve partnered to address the climate crisis and meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement by launching the U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership.  More lately, at COP28 in November, Indian and U.S. officers mentioned our new partnership to assist India electrify 50,000 buses and develop entry to low carbon public transport.

In people-to-people ties, America boasts effectively over 4 million Americans of Indian descent.  Last 12 months, the U.S. Embassy issued over a million visas; and there at the moment are practically 270,000 Indian college students within the United States.

So, the place are we headed?

• Our safety cooperation will develop into much more vital within the years forward.  The threats we face are actual, however constructing our collective capabilities, rising our sharing of data, and improving maritime domain awareness and interoperability will guarantee India continues to be a supplier of internet safety throughout the Indo-Pacific area and past. 
• Our work on defending, preserving, and strengthening democracy will proceed to be much more vital, with the rise of autocratic and authoritarian leaders and actions.  This consists of persevering with to strengthen a worldwide rules-based order structure, guaranteeing we bridge the divide on revenue inequality, and battling mis and disinformation.  Democracy should proceed to ship for our peoples.
• Our work on new and rising applied sciences will tackle much more promise.  New and rising applied sciences provide large alternatives for financial development and growth.  At the identical time, current disruptive cyber assaults, carried out by criminals and nation states, reveal the danger that cyber vulnerabilities can pose to international peace and safety.  We should work collectively to sort out information privateness points, resembling identification theft, by exchanging information on information safety points.  Through the Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership, the United States is working intently with India to construct and keep web infrastructure and strengthen cybersecurity protections.  From semiconductors to crucial minerals to house exploration and innovation in clear vitality to battling local weather change, and a lot extra, that is about financial and bodily safety. 

Pleased to as soon as once more meet with External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar. Had a productive dialogue on a wide range of subjects throughout the #USIndia relationship and methods through which we will proceed to maneuver our crucial partnership ahead. pic.twitter.com/5sNhZOmMd8

— Richard R. Verma (@DepSecStateMR) February 20, 2024

As each President Biden and Prime Minister Modi have stated, our influence with one another is vital, however what we will do for the world is much more vital.  Whether it’s addressing meals insecurity or battling the subsequent pandemic or connecting hundreds of thousands to the digital financial system, there’s a lot we will do collectively.

About the Author:  Richard R. Verma serves because the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.  In this function, he acts because the Chief Operating Officer of the Department, and leads the Department’s efforts on modernization, overseas help, and a variety of workforce and strategic points.  Deputy Secretary Verma beforehand served because the U.S. Ambassador to India, the place he led one of many largest U.S. diplomatic missions and championed historic progress in bilateral ties.