India and the United States are collaborative partners in a wide range of fields such as information technology, artificial intelligence, space, and climate change mitigation, said a US Government official. U.S. Consul General Chennai, Judith Ravin was speaking at the India-US Tech Conclave at the Bengaluru Tech Summit.
"The United States is India’s largest trading partner, with $160 billion in bilateral trade in 2021. When it comes to foreign direct investment, the United States is India’s largest investor, with a wide range of companies injecting tens of billions of dollars into the Indian economy, including technology firms like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, and Intel" Ravin said. She added that there are more than 650 U.S. companies in Bengaluru alone.
Outlining the recent steps taken to advance the bilateral relationship, she referred to the India visit of NASA, Associate Administrator, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, where he met ISRO officials and discussed the ongoing NASA-ISRO joint mission -NISAR. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar or NISAR, one of NASA’s largest bilateral projects to date at a cost of $1.5 billion, will help the world better understand natural resources and hazards, as well as provide information for scientists to better comprehend the effects and pace of climate change. NASA and ISRO continue to examine new avenues of collaboration in the fields of science and technology.
With regards to research projects, it was mentioned that U.S. National Science Foundation Director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan visited India, including Bengaluru, to promote joint U.S.-India research projects involving principal investigators from both nations for collaborative research that can accelerate the development of new technologies, tools, and systems for mutual societal and economic benefit. Dr. Panchanathan also announced the selection of U.S. supplemental funding awards totaling $2.8 million for research projects focusing on areas like artificial intelligence, data science, and edge computing.
Ravin mentioned that the upcoming U.S.-India Commercial Dialogue, the U.S.-India CEO Forum will present more opportunities to grow and create jobs in both countries.