India-US ties, Quad: More collaborative era for businesses, says S Jaishankar
Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar spoke virtually at the annual summit of the US-India Business Council.
Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday that the state of India-US ties and the Quad platform with Japan and Australia speak of a “newer and more collaborative era” that should be important for businesses to consider.
The second factor stemming from closer US-India ties that S Jaishankar proposed for the consideration by businesses was a “very positive, enabling environment” that follows “when polities have strong convergences that economic energies tend to find partners, much more readily”.
And the third, he added, was how best to take forward post-Covid-19 recovery in an era “where technology is increasingly connected with trust and supply chains with reliability”.
S Jaishankar made these observations in remarks delivered virtually at the annual summit of the US-India Business Council (USIBC).
The minister updated the summit on the state of the ties highlighting the first in-person bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden and then of the Quad with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia and then Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan.
S Jaishankar recalled the Five Ts proposed by Narendra Modi for the way forward for the bilateral relationship with the US - Tradition, Technology, Trade, Talent and Trusteeship.
He said the spirit of the Five T as proposed by the prime minister also “permeates” the Quad.
Focusing on the bilateral relationship, the foreign minister said, “What is noteworthy about our conversations is that they have gone well beyond general arguments, and are now expressed as specific initiatives, or programmes, considering some of the recent developments.”
S Jaishankar listed out an entire range of discussions and issues that the two sides are tackling - technology trade, climate change, infrastructure, defence and people-to-people cooperation.
And he added, “We not only work together on global issues, but are dedicated to the well being of the global commons that provides the basis for coordinated action.”