U.S.-India Bilateral Cooperation To Address Global Economic Challenges: Finance Minister
The Finance Minister met with the U.S. Treasury Secretary as part of the U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership Meeting.
India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India deeply values its relationship with the United States and is looking forward to cooperating with it to address global economic challenges.
Sitharaman is meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, who is in New Delhi for the 9th U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership Meeting.
In her opening remarks, Yellen spoke on the global headwinds and divergent economic pressures being faced globally.
The world economy was still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic when Russia launched its brutal, unjustified invasion of Ukraine, she said. Her remarks underscored the "unwelcome shock to fuel and food prices" that followed the Russia-Ukraine war, exacerbating inflationary pressures.
A key objective of the EFP is to strengthen U.S. supply chains through "friend-shoring", Yellen said.
"...our (India-U.S.) collaboration in this forum can not only promote each of our economies’ growth and stability but also be instrumental in supporting economic prosperity across the Indo-Pacific region," she said.
Sitharaman also spoke on the bilateral relationship with the U.S.
"...We share a traditionally strong bilateral relationship, underpinned by shared values, convergence of interests on wide-ranging issues, and vibrant people-to-people contacts."
The Finance Minister expects the meeting to add vigour to the economic relationship between the countries, strengthen business-to-business links, and facilitate a coordinated policy stance to address pressing global economic challenges.
"...We will continue to rely on the close cooperation of the United States to address the global economic challenges in a more coordinated manner and by strengthening multilateralism," she said.
Also present during the discussions were Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, and Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran.
After meeting India's Finance Minister, Yellen will be part of an interaction with business leaders and eminent economists.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary will subsequently head to Bali, Indonesia, to join U.S. President Joe Biden at the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which will take place on Nov. 15 and 16.