Hyderabad, Jun 27 : US Consul-General (Hyderabad) Ms Katherine Hadda on Tuesday said ‘there
is still more work to be done to expand the bilateral relationship between India and America’.
Addressing the 242nd American Independence Day celebrations organised here by the AP and Telangana
chapter of IACC (Indo-American Chamber of Commerce), Ms Hadda said on July 6, the United States and India will hold its inaugural 2+2 dialogue in Washington DC, where the US Secretaries of State and Defence and the Indian Ministers of External Affairs and Defence will meet to discuss on how we can continue to strengthen our strategic and security ties.
Our strategic defence partnership is strong than ever, she said there is still more work to be done to expand the bilateral relationship and dialogues as this is essential to the process, she informed.
Highlighting the need for India to reduce import duties, the Consul-General said US has seen of lowest
tariff rates in the World.
We have applied tariff rates of 3.4 per cent against 13.4 per cent by India, she said over one and half of
tariff line imported into our country are duty free whereas less than 3 per cent of the goods coming into India qualify for duty free status.
Stating that the US wished for reciprocity “with India just as we do with all trading partners…” Ms. Hadda said such a move helped both the economies.
She said “India and the United States have much more to offer to the world, including the ideals of justice, freedom, liberty, prosperity, and pluralism.
Fundamentally, we are bound by a shared political philosophy on the relationship between citizens and their government.“Our strategic defence partnership is stronger than ever, Ms Hadda said.
The Indian diaspora, and especially the Telugu-speaking community, have long played a major role in
bringing our societies closer together, she said according to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey,
Telugu is the third most widely spoken Indian language and the 20th most spoken language in the United States.
I am often told that every fourth person here has family ties in the US,” Ms. Hadda said.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were also among the states in India that send the largest number of students
to the United States, she added.
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