[Answered] How deeper cooperation between the United States and India in trade can help India achieve $5 trillion economic status?

How deeper cooperation in Indo-US trade can help India achieve $5 trillion economic status?

1. Investment: The potential economic benefits of India’s partnerships with the US are significant. India requires $1 trillion over the next decade to upgrade its infrastructure, for which it needs foreign direct investment. For this US can play an important role. On other hand good ties with India can help US in economic growth which is hampered due to recent US-China tussle.
2. Trade ties with US allies: Due to the rapid growth of China, collaborating with the US can help India progress from being a South Asian power to an Asian and eventually global power. The improved relationship with the United States would help India’s trade relation with other US allies like Japan.
3. Countering China: A partnership with the US will create more balance in a region increasingly dominated by China. The deeper ties with India is an important part of the US’s pivot to Asia Policy. With the rise of India, China’s hegemony is challenged which is good for both India and US. India can replace China as USA’s top importing country.
4. Multipolarity: With change in global order, it is important for both US and India to deepen their ties as there is no enemy or friends in these times. Whereas the US can help India to rise as an important power in a multipolar world, it can help the US strategically in Indian Ocean by keeping India as a good friend.
5. Defence: The US is critical for India’s indigenous defence production and to reduce the country’s defence import bill. With transfer of significant defence technology and equipment US can help India to be self-sufficient to tackle future dangers. This will help India strategically and economically by increasing defence exports.

Various issues between India-US relations:

1. Tariffs: Bilateral tensions have increased over each side’s tariff policies. The US has accused India of relatively high average tariff rates, especially in agriculture. The United States and India are challenging each other’s tariff measures in the WTO.
2. Intellectual Property (IP): The two sides differ on how to balance IP protection to incentivize innovation and support other policy goals, such as access to medicines. India’s IP regime remains a top U.S. concern, and India remains on the “Special 301” Priority Watch List for 2018, based on such concerns as its treatment of patents, infringement rates, and protection of trade secrets.
3. Relations with Russia: The US is the all-time rival of Russia. While India is a friend of Russia. Russia has always supported India on an international platform. It helped India to develop its defence capabilities. In 2018, India inked the historic agreement worth with Russia to procure four S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system, the most powerful missile defence system in the world ignoring America’s CATSA act. The U.S. threatened India with sanctions over India’s decision to buy the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
4. Forced Localization: The United States continues to press India to address its forced localization practices, such as in-country data storage, domestic content, and domestic testing requirements, viewed by the United States as presenting barriers to trade with India. At the same time, India has moved to ease some local sourcing rules for single-brand retailers, which would affect companies such as Apple.
5. Services: The United States and India are competitive in certain services industries. A key issue for India is the U.S. temporary visa policies, which affect Indian nationals working in the United States. India is challenging U.S. fees for worker visas in the WTO, and monitoring potential U.S. action to revise the H-1B (specialized worker) visa program.

India and the U.S. should strengthen their relationship on global and regional levels and look for issues of common interest which can provide enormous opportunities for both countries to work closely in reshaping the global political order. Both nations have the potential to grow together benefitting mutual interests and understanding each other better.