Highlight how you can benefit America, Aspen tells India

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India should highlight how it can benefit the United States, said leading public policy forum Aspen India, as part of a set of recommendations mentioned in a report on boosting bilateral ties between the countries.
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The report has come out before PM Modi's proposed visit to the US later this month.

US President Trump’s speech against countries including India while pulling out of the Paris climate deal might jeopardise the visit; however, the report said that India needs to tell US what it can do to contribute to the American economy, which includes creating IT jobs.

If the visit happens, this first meeting between PM Modi and President Trump will be a clean-sheet meeting, which would allow the two leaders to know each other better.

"India must show more resolve and confidence in dealing with the US. Need to get President Trump focus on India. It should not be diffident about pursuing its interests as a country nor should it be apologetic about its interests... India needs to get into US value chains and get their companies to invest in India. There is an increasing need to work on the ground level in addition to the strategic level," the report said.

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The report also refers to the contribution that the Indian IT industry has done to the US economy saying, "The IT is a key sector in India-US relationship for a variety of reasons. There is a level of interdependency between the two countries. They need our market, we need their skills... Indian IT industry in US is supporting more than 400,000 jobs. While the growth in the job market in the US has been less than 2%, the growth in the IT sector has been close to 10% in the last few years. 85% Indian companies in the US have a concrete investment plan for the next five years."

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