Ambassador Marantis returned to Delhi to continue a series of critical meetings today with senior Indian Government officials who play a key role in the bilateral economic relationship. Most notably, he met with his Indian counterpart, Commerce Secretary Rao, for a private meeting to discuss trade and investment issues of mutual interest, and to confer on shared steps that could be taken to reinvigorate the bilateral dialogue.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis discusses trade and investment priorities with Indian
Commerce Secretary S. R. Rao and senior officials from the Indian Commerce Ministry.
Ambassador Marantis and Secretary Rao committed to finding ways to make progress on outstanding bilateral trade and investment issues. The two officials also agreed to enhance engagement at the staff level as well as between senior officials at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Ministry, with a view to improving understanding of each other's perspectives, facilitating early resolution of bilateral trade and investment concerns, and engaging more constructively on multilateral matters. Following their meeting, Secretary Rao invited Ambassador Marantis and the U.S. delegation to exchange views on a range of bilateral and multilateral trade policy issues with senior Commerce Ministry officials, before hosting a session that included senior officials from other Indian government agencies involved in the bilateral economic dialogue.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis and Indian Commerce Secretary S. R. Rao exchange views
on strengthening the U.S.-India bilateral trade and investment relationship.
Ambassador Marantis subsequently met with Secretary Mathai of the Ministry of External Affairs to discuss opportunities for strengthening the trade and investment dialogue in the context of the broader U.S.-India relationship, including ways to share information on issues of common interest that have arisen during India's review of its Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) policy. Finally, following his speech in Chennai highlighting the importance of innovation for the U.S.-India economic relationship, Ambassador Marantis met with U.S. firms engaged in innovation-related sectors in India. Ambassador Marantis departs Delhi today to return to Washington, D.C., where he will prepare for next week's meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT).
