Christina Rocca

The United States is seeking to increase its bilateral trade with India, a country projected to become the world’s third largest economy by 2015, says Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca.

Rocca said, “The U.S.-India political relationship is rapidly maturing and is probably better than it has ever been since 1947. The two countries’ leaders meet often and speak with each other even more often.”

“We see great promise for a partnership offering enormous benefits to both our countries. The challenge before us is to fulfill that potential,” she added.

Speaking at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASA) on April 28, Rocca said, “Another area for improvement in the U.S.-India relations is in our economic and commercial relations. India is projected to become the worlds third largest economy by 2015, and we want it to be a strong trading and economic partner. India’s leadership sees thatng its economy and hastening reforms can make this projection a reality, allowing continued growth rates of 7-8 percent. Such growth has the potential to transform the lives of millions of Indians.”

She said, “Besides India, all the countries in the South Asia region, where there are concerns over nuclear proliferation and terrorism, has moved center-stage in the U.S. foreign policy agenda over the past three years.”

Rocca also referred to the growing military ties between India and the U.S. and about the joint army, air force and naval exercises that have taken place. “We consult regularly on cooperation against terrorism and a wide range of other issues. Politicians in India and the United States have discovered what you as academics have known instinctively for years: That the world’s two largest democracies have more that ties them together than pulls them apart,” she added.

Rocca said that even though the U.S. is India’s largest trading partner, “our bilateral trade remains far below what it could be. Improving that situation is one of our primary objectives.”

She said the U.S. Ambassador to India, David Mulford, is a financier who knows how to maximize business opportunities, and he is working hard to overcome the barriers that still stand in the way of a more productive trade relationship between the two countries.

She also complimented the Center for the Advanced Study of India for being one of the several leading American academic institutions that have served an important role in fostering the study of India by American scholars and the global community of scholars concerned with India.