Today as i think everyone in this room knows, we kicked off an incredible week for the indiau. S. Relationship. The first meeting with the indian Prime Minister and President Trump. At Hudson Institute we are delighted to host this special event focused on the u. S. India partnership. We are grateful to our friends at cspan for covering this event live. U. S. India bilateral trade stands at less than 1 5 of the u. S. China 648 billion bilateral trade relationship. India is americas ninth largest supplier of imported goods and 18th largest export market. The worlds first and the worlds sixth economies respectively, we had hudson at hudson we institute believe there is significant room for growth. The u. S. India relationship is an important one here at the institute. Our Salvation Program directed by the former ambassador has been active on the u. S. India trade relationship, the u. S. India defense relationship, and the u. S. Indiajapan trilateral relationship for some time now. I was very fortunate to be honored to be included in the briefing with Prime Minister modi during his last visit to washington. We are honored today to have the cochairman of the congressional caucus on india, the representative from North Carolina here to offer keynote remarks. I will introduce him momentarily. We also have the excellent Panel Moderated by an ambassador who will be joined by the president of boeing india and the Governmental Relations leader for transportation at general electric, resident director at north america, and Senior Vice President of throw. Withrow. Allow me now to introduce congressman holding. He grew up in North Carolina, attended Wake Forest University , clerked for u. S. District Terrence Boyle and practiced law before becoming the u. S. Attorney for North Carolina. He is the representative from North Carolinas 13th congressional district, sworn in on january 2017, and serves on the ways and Means Committee. Without further a do, let me introduce representative holding. [applause] all right. Let me get all set up. This water bottle looked little funny at the front. Thank you very much. A very warm welcome. I appreciate the opportunity to offer some remarks. It is kind of odd to be a with a here with a panel of folks who are actual experts on the u. S. India relations and how we can foster deeper bonds he deeper bonds between our two great democracies. I would especially like to thank the Hudson Institute for hosting todays proceedings. Between indiap and the United States is incredibly important. It is great to see such a turnout. For me, seeking ways to expand the u. S. India relationship always begins with dialogue and i will be the first to admit that some of these conversations are not always easy. They require healthy doses of honesty from both sides. When i was in india early this year, i believe for the fourth time, there was honesty on the concern of visas. Last week in the ways and Means Committee we had a conversation with the trade ambassador and there was some frank discussion about tariffs and price controls on medical devices. I firmly believe these are conversations we have to have as they will cement what i believe will be the defining relationship between our two countries for the century. The 21st century. I am sure there are questions among you about why a congressman from North Carolina is the cochair of the india caucus and how that same member got asked to give these remarks today. So, here is a marker. All politics is local, and in my constituency in North Carolina, i am proud to represent over 20,000 Indian Americans. As an aside, upwards of 90 in of hotel rooms in North Carolina are owned by Indian Americans. I saw a groundswell of support in my district, not only for his candidacy, but also for reinvigorating u. S. India relations. I am talking about Indian Americans who had never been ined in the political the United States and never turned out to an event or sought out a candidate or representative, but as they were interested in modi becoming Prime Minister and interested in this country, it was through talking to them about the bilateral relationship that i found myself very interested in u. S. India policy. So i quickly realized the incredible potential that existed for an Enduring Partnership tween the oldest democracies, largest democracy. I know the oldest, largest talking point is what gets tossed around a great deal. I believe it is instructed instructive to examine what is at the core of the u. S. India relationships and that is shared values affected by our belief in democracy. It is this and the peopletopeople connections may by the indianamerican that us to be such strong supporters of the bilateral membership. I am very bullish on the future of our relationship. I believe we can build off the strong gains we have witnessed over the course of the last few years and continue our progress forward. This visit should allow each leader, both great personalities, to reinforce why this relationship matters, with both sides of the equation expressing concerns they might have candidly, mantoman. And over the course of the i am sure that there will be differences but im sure they will find significant areas of cooperation from enhanced security for nation to increased Energy Collaboration and more engagement on the economic front. I believe we find ourselves wellpositioned to seize many of these opportunities. Regardless, it is important to remember that for many Years Congress has been on the front lines of driving the u. S. India relationship forward, and i think it will be even more because of the engagement with members of congress. That we have today no intention of taking our foot off the gas, as far as driving this relationship. Reflecting on just the time in which i have had the privilege of being the cochair of the indian caucus, i feel like we have made a tremendous stride in a number of areas. That is not to say that we do not have a lot of work to do. I struggle when i think of a better way we can strengthen the u. S. India relationship than bolstering businesstobusiness ties. Trading opportunities will endure. Besides economic benefits, it would be these relationships with Great American and great indian companies, large and small, that will help us whether all the political travails that will inevitably arise. Total trade of goods and services between the u. S. And india, the numbers are just south of 100 billion dollars a year. Deficit with india remain for some unnecessarily high. Especially as india continues its exceptional growth. I look at these figures and wonder what else can be done to further development of our economic bonds. Hope springs eternal for ontinuation of ernest talks the bilateral investment treaty, which has been on the back burner for a while. Would be more than welcome to get capital off the sidelines. This would have the added benefit of paving the way for agreements concerning a variety of sectors and industries, specifically in the technology and innovative space i think we have an Incredible Opportunity to further integrate our economies, countries, and and even governments for Cyber Security. It will be the innovation economy to allow them to overcome challenges over the horizon by unleashing the worlds most innovative companies. Whether you are the worlds most Innovative Company in Silicon Valley or bangalore, these are staffed with incredibly creative people and talented workforces , and this collaboration will help further assist the Prime Minister in achieving and realizing his visions for programs such as Digital India and the smart cities initiative, efforts the United States government should should also continue to robustly support with its expertise and resources. If we are going to be able to foster an ecosystem that enables the u. S. To become an even better partner in technology and innovative spaces, i believe we can realize even greater business and economic synergies. We all know about companies that have driven this impressive wth, a number of which everyone on this panel is a part of those companies, i believe. There is also Great Potential in the defense and energy sectors. Some of which are already being realized. I was proud last year during the last congress to author something signed into law that will bolster the ability of our two governments to develop and share cuttingedge defense technology. This is the language we had put into the nda. It was certainly my aim to encourage additional coproduction and codevelopment initiatives to help us Grow Business opportunities and achieve strategic objectives along the way. My visit to india early this , we had lots of discussions on how to have a synergy between making india and America First and that the two philosophies work well together. This is a positive step. We need to see this fully realized in the businesstobusiness space. Expect we will also continue to see an increase in operation of Cyber Security, which i know is in the minds of everyone here today. Challengesecurity like those in the indian ocean are those that we share together and we must tackle together. On the energy front, the United States has a significant chance to help india have a stable, Affordable Energy through unleashing new technologies that makes the extraction and export of shale oil and natural gas affordable. A very active member of the india caucus is here today, pete wilson, extolling the virtues of natural gas terminals in houston which i believe is online now. But in the meantime, we need to be prepared to further expand our Renewable Energy sector as these new technologies will become increasingly important to the energy mix of both of our nations. All of this, like our trade relationship stands to contribute to the economic success of both of our countries. More importantly, this type of cooperation stands to bring our two nations closer together which always must be the shared objective at the and of the day. At the end of the day. The United States is a natural india has india, and a very natural partner in the United States. I think it is incumbent upon all of us who are engaged on this issue and engaged on furthering our relationship, all of us that believe in the future that this will be a defining relationship for the 21st century. That we keep working hard. We keep progress in momentum Going Forward. With that, i thank you all very much. [applause] good afternoon. I am the director at the Hudson Institute. We are grateful for the cooperation we have received and the partnership. Recognize those who put together this panel. President trump and Prime Minister modi are going to be meeting today. We already heard the congressman with reference to the u. S. India relationship. The defining partnership of the 21st century, a term that has byn used i successive successive president s of the usa in the last couple decades. India is often in the wall street journal. Well all know that while values are a conceptual framework, the end of the day, relationships between nations also have to be measured, and they are often measured in terms of how well they do in commercial partnership and in trade and industry, which is why we have brought this panel to you today. The United States is indias second largest bilateral trading partner in goods and india is United States ninth largest bilateral trading goods. Bilateral trade stands at an estimated 114 billion. Around 100 Million Companies operate in the United States and have created close to 100,000 jobs here. They have invested more than 15 billion and u. S. Companies have invested 28 billion in india just in the last three years. Just to give you a measure of how things are moving, the u. S. India defense trade was only 200 million in the year 2000. Today it stands at about 15 billion with potential for much more. But, as the Worlds Largest and the six largest economy, there is considerable room for for the growth for further growth. And the World Bank Annual report for 2017, on the eve of doing business globally, ranked india at 130 out of 190 countries. If there were greater income being done in india, perhaps more American Companies would head to india. In the area of defense, for example, one of the factors can american rules and regulations on export controls and the indian desire for not being dependent purely on defense economics but also being able to make things and india. Make things in india. So where do things stand . Where will we see this relationship go forward . Innovation between the u. S. India promotion partnership. We have an excellent panel today with representatives from all of those who can be identified as the Major Players in the field of innovation and expansion of commercial ties between the United States and india. We have danny obrien from general electric. He is the Government Relations leader for transportation and in this capacity he oversees ges engagement on Public Policy issues. He has served as a longtime advisor in the u. S. Senate where he was chief of staff to three senators. He managed political strategies for these National Leaders and now is a Government Relations leader for ge and will play a crucial role in ges expansion into india. Then, to my right, Senior Vice President based in Silicon Valley, california. He is the leader of the new age business. None of this means anything to me because im not as technology conversant as most people might be. I am sure many other people are watching this discussion on cspan will be totally impressed. Market transformation across the globe, he also carries that responsibility for north America Business operations which are expanding. I will talk about them in just a minute. Then we have james, who is the manages thehe office responsible for representing the interest in Group Countries and the region. Academic ownerships, sustainability, business development. And most of you in this room would say, i would like to be i were fourth speaker is on his way, i am told. He is the president of boeing india and is running late. Sure that is not in any way a commentary on billing arriving on time, most of the time. He is the Vice President of boeing international and teasers serves as managing director of boeing defense india. He is based in new delhi and he is the most senior and country executive. He does business across three business units. Before we get started on a discussion, a very quick rundown on the four Companies Represented on the panel and their business interests in relation to interest. Ge has doubled its investment in india and delivered 3 million in economic value over the last three years. Investors are mostly manufacturers. They invested 350 million as part of expansion and 2006, have a factory, 200 billion dollar factory that employs 13,00015,000 people in india. Boeing investment in india includes a new factory which plans for hornet Fighter Aircraft and it also has active footprint for helicopter production. It is doubling its resources from india. It works with aeronautic and roughly with parts built in india for around the world. Another has a very large number of employees in the United States. Half of the employees in the United States are working for them. Over 150,000 people working here. So those who think this political relationship and of happenshe rhetoric that a lot is jobs are going to other way but no. India is actually creating jobs in the United States as well. Its biggest geography by revenue in cities such as san francisco, dallas, new jersey. It has invested 500 million inquiry a u. S. Cloud Computing Company last year. And Different Companies have entered int