India and the United States have a mutual interest in countering terrorism and extremism, India’s ambassador to the United States told a Baker Institute audience recently.
Ambassador Meera Shankar (pictured above) expressed particular hope that relations with India’s longtime rival, Pakistan, would improve, and she noted India’s $1.2 billion in development assistance for Afghanistan as an example of India’s commitment to regional stability.
India’s economic future “will depend on global peace, stability and security,” Shankar said during her Nov. 6 lecture. “And nowhere is that question of greater importance than in Asia, where the center of gravity of global opportunities and challenges of the 21st century lie.”
She told the audience of community leaders, Rice students and faculty and policymakers that the end of the Cold War and India’s decision to reform its economy have provided a fortuitous backdrop to two decades of stronger ties between the world’s largest democracies.
“Today, the India-U.S. relationship has evolved into a truly comprehensive partnership of mutual trust and confidence, intensifying political dialogue that is increasingly global in reach and deepening strategic understanding,” Shankar said.
Almost from independence in 1947, India’s relations with the United States were constrained by the political calculus of the Cold War, Shankar said. The demise of the Soviet Union coincided with a major liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991 that paved the way for a new era in U.S.-Indian cooperation.
“India’s economic reforms began the process of India’s global integration, increasing India’s stakes in the international order,” Shankar explained. “This, together with the profound changes in the geopolitical landscape, provided new openings for refashioning our relationship with the United States, which has today become a key partner for India.”
The two decades of improving relations — which have enjoyed bipartisan support in the United States, Shankar pointed out — are evident in the economic arena. Trade between India and the U.S. has doubled in the past five years alone, she said, and U.S. investment in India has been growing. But in another measure of India’s relative economic health, Indian investment in the United States has also surged, Shankar said.
While gross domestic product growth slowed in India during the current global recession, its 7.4 percent rate in 2008 would still be the envy of many countries. Shankar said India hopes to return to the 9 percent growth of previous years. The country will need to upgrade its energy sector to accommodate such an expansion, she said, while including efforts to deal with the greenhouse gases that are a byproduct of the
Shankar, who in April became India’s ambassador to the United States, also addressed the rise of India’s technology sector and the value of higher education. She cited a proposal to establish an India-U.S. educational council that would “guide our cooperation in higher education and research.”
“Science and technology, education and research, enterprise and innovation are the common threads that will link our joint endeavors in the future,” she said.
- View a webcast of Ambassador Shankar’s Nov. 6 lecture, “India and the United States: A Partnership for Prosperity.”
- Read a transcript of Ambassador Shankar’s Nov. 6 remarks at the Baker Institute.