Asheville, Aug 31 : The White House on Monday described India as a dynamic, strong and resilient economy after official data showed the country’s gross domestic product grew by 7.8 per cent.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai said the latest figures reinforced the Trump administration’s assessment of India as a rapidly growing economic power.
“India’s a very dynamic and very strong and resilient economy,” Desai told IANS in an interview during the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
Desai said the GDP figures reinforced the administration’s view of India as a fast-growing power.
He said India’s size and rapid economic expansion offered significant opportunities for American companies and investors seeking new markets.
“India’s obviously a very large economy,” Desai said, adding that it “represents a lot of opportunities” for American and global industries.
Desai called India’s economic growth “a very exciting story” for the US government and the American business community.
The White House official said the Trump administration was working to encourage American companies to invest in India while also seeking greater Indian investment in the United States.
“The president and administration are very keen to grow and develop that bilateral trade and economic relationship,” he said.
Desai also underlined the importance President Donald Trump places on relations with India and referred to his personal equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The American Indo-Indian relationship is of very high importance to him,” Desai said. “He’s often talked about his personal friendship with Prime Minister Modi.”
Desai said he expected “a lot of productive discussions” between the US and Indian governments over the coming days and during “the weeks and months and years ahead”.
The India-US economic relationship was also expected to figure in discussions involving US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other finance ministers attending the G20 meeting.
Desai said Bessent and his international counterparts remained in regular communication. The Asheville meeting, he said, would place economic growth at the centre of the G20 agenda.
“A big topic of discussion is going to be restoring economic growth as the north star of the G20,” he said.
Desai said the meetings would examine steps to “turbocharge global economic growth” and raise wages and living standards around the world.
Asked about the proposed India-US trade agreement, Desai said negotiations had moved from political-level understanding to detailed technical discussions.
“There’s obviously broad agreement at the leader-to-leader level,” he said.
Desai said it was now up to the technical teams “to iron out the smaller nitty-gritty details”, including issues such as the Harmonised Tariff Schedule codes used by the United States to classify imported products.
“We’re very optimistic about that,” he said, adding that Trump “wants a strong partnership, both economic and political” with India.
The Harmonised Tariff Schedule, commonly known as the HTS, is used by the United States to classify imported goods and determine the customs duties applicable to different products. Product classifications and tariff treatment are among the technical matters normally addressed during detailed trade negotiations.
India and the United States have developed a broad economic relationship encompassing trade, investment, energy, manufacturing and emerging technologies. The two countries also engage through the G20 and other international forums on economic growth, financial stability and global development.
India is very dynamic, resilient economy: White House
