On the first day of her visit to Washington DC, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman met her American counterpart.
Secretary of treasury Janet Yellen, and discussed global macroeconomic conditions, India’s G20 presidency, supply chains, clean energy, and ways to deepen bilateral economic collaboration.
Yellen said the India-United States (US) partnership was “critical” to addressing the world’s most important global economic challenges. She said that the food and energy crises caused by recent global shocks had created challenges for both countries, appreciated India’s participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), and expressed American support for India’s G20 presidency.
Sitharaman is in Washington DC to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. She also has a range of bilateral engagements lined up, particularly with G20 finance ministers. Her first official bilateral engagement was with Yellen.
In a tweet after the meeting, the ministry of finance said, “The two leaders discussed current global #Macroeconomic situation among other issues of mutual interest. The two Ministers also discussed various issues of significance with a view towards India’s upcoming #G20 Presidency.”
In her opening remarks, Yellen said that the India-US partnership was not only vital to their core economic interests, but also demonstrated to citizens and the world that democracies deliver. “It illustrates the close bonds between our two countries, from the Quad partnership to our strong bilateral economic relationship, and the cultural ties from the Indian diaspora in the US.”
Yellen added that the US and India were “both extremely important” to the world economy, and must continue to work together on economic development and cooperation. She acknowledged that both faced “shared headwinds stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s unjust war against Ukraine”.
“Those global shocks have raised energy and food prices in both of our countries, and they have underscored the importance of the efforts both of our countries are undertaking to make our economies more resilient.”
Yellen said she also looked forward to discussing efforts to strengthen supply chains and invest in clean energy, in addition to steps that she said the US was taking to “keep global oil markets well-supplied”. “That is particularly important given how high energy costs have affected consumers in both of our countries – and in emerging markets globally.”
G20 prominently figured in the discussions. As Indonesia struggles to engineer a consensus among G20 economies given the deep geopolitical rifts between the West and Russia, India has been carefully watching developments in the run-up to the Bali meeting.
Yellen said that India’s assumption of the G20 presidency in December was an opportunity for more concerted global cooperation and told Sitharaman, “I look forward to discussing India’s priorities for their host year and how the United States can best support you as you take on this important role.”
The US also lauded India’s participation in the IPEF, with Yellen saying that through the framework, the US and its partners will “deepen economic bonds, strengthen supply chains to avoid costly disruptions, and help develop the guiding standards and rules for technological innovation in the years and decades to come”.
In what will be her first trip as Secretary to India, Yellen said she was looking forward to attending the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership meeting next month. Sitharaman said the meeting, to be held on November 11 in New Delhi, will give them an opportunity to take stock of the global economy; discuss India’s G20 presidency; collaborate on financial, technical, and regulatory issues. Other issues on the agenda for the next meeting include infrastructure investment and climate policies.