Indian Ambassador in US discusses trade with Pennsylvania Governor

Washington: Continuing with his efforts to strengthen the bilateral ties, the top Indian diplomat in the US has discussed trade and investment cooperation with the Governor of Pennsylvania, the American state with which India shares a vibrant and a century-old relationship.

The total trade between India and Pennsylvania in 2019 was USD 3.21 billion. Over 18 Indian companies, with investments of USD 540 million, are supporting 3,000 jobs in Pennsylvania.

India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu during his virtual conference with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Friday discussed the ever-increasing trade and investment complementarities in the India-US relationship and cooperation in the fields of education and healthcare.

"Wonderful conversation with Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania on our strong economic partnership & the important contributions of the Indian diaspora & Indian companies. Discussed the potential for collaboration in higher education; STEM areas; life sciences and health," Sandhu said in a tweet.

Sandhu shared with Wolf the latest developments in the Indian healthcare and education sectors, including recent reform initiatives taken by India, according to a readout of the call issued by the embassy here.

Both noted the important contributions, especially in economy, of over 200,000 members of the Indian diaspora in Pennsylvania, including those of nearly 10,000 Indian students in Pennsylvania's higher education institutions.

The ambassador highlighted the new opportunities available for investments in India's higher education sector under the New Education Policy recently announced in India.

Indian entrepreneurs and professionals have a significant presence in Pennsylvania in the IT and telecommunications, life sciences and manufacturing sectors. Indian high skilled talent adds to the competitive edge of the US economy.

Many Pennsylvania-based US companies spread across food processing, agriculture, IT, and Chemicals sectors are present in India. Some notable investments include Hershey's, Kraft Heinz, Unisys, Air Products & Chemicals, FMC among others.

INPUTS: PTI