By Ayushi Agarwal |
New Delhi [India], July 24 (ANI): Noting the aggressive posture of China, Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of the US–India Strategic Partnership Forum, said that India and the United States are aligned because of the growing threat of China, adding that both countries need each other to deal with Chinese aggression.
While speaking to ANI, the USISPF President said that India‘s relationship with the US is multifold.
“It’s geopolitical, it’s economic, it’s technological, and it’s people-to-people. Regardless of whether it is Democratic or Republican, the relationship will continue to grow substantially and strengthen itself,” he said.
“Geopolitically, both countries are aligned because of the growing threat of China, the growing posture of China and the aggressive posture of China itself. And so both countries need each other to deal with China itself,” Aghi told ANI.
He further said that as India‘s economy rises, it provides market opportunities for US companies.
“More important, as India‘s economy grows from USD 4 to USD 5 trillion, India provides market opportunity to US companies. And as the threat from China gets stronger and stronger, what we are seeing is that US companies are getting harassed in China in order to derisk the supply chain. These companies are moving to Vietnam, but they are also important to India,” he said.
Noting that the third factor is technological, Aghi said that the substantial tech-savvy people in India are making US companies much more successful, much more competitive, and much more efficient.
“Either they are doing these works in India or coming over here. That partnership will continue to grow as the ageing population of the US grows. And then people to people. You have five million Indian Americans, or 1.5 per cent of the population, generating 6 per cent of the GDP,” he said.
Aghi added that their engagement in the political process is very strong.
“You’re seeing Kamala Harris, you’re seeing JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance. You’re seeing Vivek Ramaswamy, and you’re seeing Nikki Haley. So there is a substantial engagement of Indian Americans, and that’s going to drive the relationship in a positive direction,” he told ANI.
He emphasised that regardless, whoever comes into contact with India and the US will get stronger day by day.
“I think its not just India; we will see that trade relationship impacting China, Europe and other parts of the world itself. I think Trump’s mind is that if you put tariffs in place, you can slow down the goods coming in, but tariffs impact consumers also,” he said.
Stressing that Indian political leadership understands Trump better and there will be a much smoother relationship, he said, “The more important thing is that India has dealt with Trump and they managed that relationship very carefully and successfully.”
Furthermore, shedding light on India–US cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, Aghi said that it serves the interests of the US and India to make sure that the Chinese domination of the Indo-Pacific does not happen because if China starts dominating, then India gets marginalised.
“Second, the alliance between the US and India is not just in QUAD; it is also happening in I2U2 in the Middle East and IMEC,” he added.
More importantly, it has gone beyond a defence alliance, he said.
“They both are participating in joint exercises up in the Himalayas, in the Bay of Bengal and in the Arabian Sea. So, I think the integration of the two military forces, two trading partners will get much more detailed, and successful,” he said.
Moreover, Aghi emphasised that as China acts more aggressively, we will see a stronger partnership between India and the US.
“So, as China gets more assertive, more aggressive, you will see a much more stronger partnership between the two countries,” he said. (ANI)
“It’s a balanced budget, focused on job creation”: USISPF President Mukesh Aghi on India’s Budget 2024
New Delhi [India], July 24 (ANI): Commending India‘s Union Budget 2024, Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of the US–India Strategic Partnership Forum, said that it is a pretty balanced budget focused on job creation.
Aghi said that the focus of the budget is to bring the deficit from 5.3 per cent to 4.9 per cent.
“It’s a pretty balanced budget. From a macro perspective, the focus is to bring the deficit from 5.3 per cent to 4.9 per cent. So that’s a very responsible budget. The budget focuses on job creation, skills in attracting FDI to create more jobs…,” he told ANI.
He emphasised that it is important to understand that a big chunk of the money is allocated to first-time wage earners on a monthly salary basis.
“A substantial amount has been put into skilling a lot of people that’s going to help, because you have to understand that only 51 per cent of the graduates today are skilled enough to be in the workforce, and this was almost 34 per cent ten years ago,” he told ANI.
“So the government has made a lot of effort and progress, but I think we have to go beyond 51 per cent and that’s where the whole investment is going to take place. But more important is that by reducing the income tax on foreign companies by 5 per cent, that’s going to attract multinationals to come in and invest more in India,” he added.
Aghi further said that the overall objective is to bring the current FTI from USD 70 billion a year to USD 110 billion.
“So we will see substantial money coming in to create more jobs. So I guess it’s a balanced budget focused on job creation,” he emphasised.
Noting that in India, 65 per cent of the population is below 35, Aghi said that it is important to understand that almost 50 per cent of the workforce is in the agriculture sector, which is only producing 15 per cent of the GDP.
We have to basically make the workforce more productive, he stressed.
“We have to skill them so they can compete on a global basis. And that’s why a substantial amount of funding has been put in, trying to invest and enhance the skills, setting up ITI, and setting up other centres so people are work-ready and productive on day one once they graduate,” he said.
“I think the focus is job creation and that’s where the budget is focused on,” Aghi concluded.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her record seventh consecutive Union Budget 2024-25 on Tuesday during the Budget Session of Parliament. She makes history as the first finance minister to present seven consecutive budget speeches, surpassing former Prime Minister Morarji Desai’s record of six consecutive budgets as finance minister between 1959 and 1964.
FM Sitharaman, in her seventh consecutive Union Budget for 2024-25, outlined key priorities aimed at fostering economic growth and creating ample opportunities. The priorities include Productivity and Resilience in Agriculture, Employment and Skilling and services. (ANI)
