PM Modi's visit to US will elevate India-US already existing ties to even greater heights: CII

New Delhi [India], June 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US will elevate the already existing bilateral ties between the two countries to greater heights, Confederation of Indian Industry President R Dinesh said.

Calling the Prime Minister's visit to the US "exceptionally successful," Dinesh said that this trip highlights the commitment of the two sides to pursue common goals and address global challenges together and assumes great significance amidst the rapidly changing global economic and geopolitical framework.

"The two leaders covered diverse areas of cooperation including bilateral trade and investments, defence cooperation, technology, semiconductor, clean energy, MSMEs, skill development, and cooperation on the Indo-Pacific, among others that add new dimensions and infuse greater energy to the India-US strategic partnership. The multiple outcomes present many opportunities for India as well as for the world," the CII statement read.

The technology partnership between India and the USA was a defining feature of the bilateral meetings, as the two countries committed to expanding the bilateral technology partnership further with a focus on greater technology sharing and technology co-development as well as co-production opportunities.

The visit gives a further push to the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), which was launched in January 2023 and has gathered momentum since then. As emphasized by the Prime Minister in his departure statement, the iCET is set to widen collaboration across sectors including defence industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum and Artificial Intelligence (AI), telecom and biotech sectors and will add new dimensions to the partnership.

"Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's four-day state visit to the US is the most historic by any Prime Minister - in fact by any global leader, and marks a significant milestone for the India-US partnership.

"On behalf of CII, I congratulate and thank the Hon'ble Prime Minister on this unprecedented achievement. There is not one but many defining features of the outcomes this time, which is rather unique. Technology partnerships are one of them," Dinesh said.

"iCET - which started in January 2023 has picked up steam and CII had the privilege of being associated with a dialogue recently, which was most productive. Sectors like biotechnology, space, semiconductors, telecom, AI and quantum, and defence would get a huge fillip through this arrangement of cooperation. Partnership in space is another defining feature. As also the institutionalised framework for trade talks, since the potential for augmenting bilateral trade - including in hi-tech areas is huge", he added as the Prime Minister left for his two-day state visit to Egypt after concluding his US visit on June 24.