Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Faleomavaega, thank you for inviting me to testify today. It is an honor to appear before this Committee, and I am pleased to speak alongside my friend and colleague, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets, Arun Kumar. In the interest of time, I will summarize my statement and ask that my full testimony be submitted for the record.

There is no better time than now to re-examine U.S.-India relations. The historic elections this spring conferred an unprecedented mandate on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party, and also created a historic opportunity for the United States and India to re-energize our relationship. Deputy Secretary Bill Burns and I traveled to New Delhi two weeks ago to meet with the Prime Minister and key members of his Cabinet. Secretary Kerry will travel soon to India to co-chair the next round of our Strategic Dialogue, and he will be joined by Secretary of Commerce Pritzker, underscoring the vital role of our economic partnership. 

Mr. Chairman, the Obama administration’s rebalance to Asia is a strategic bet on the consequential role of Asia’s 4.3 billion people in the 21st century and Asia’s growing importance to America’s security and prosperity. But for Asia to comprise 50 per cent of global GDP, as many project, its citizens and governments must make the right choices – to foster sustainable and inclusive growth, to promote open and free trade, and to combat terrorism and extremism. In all of these areas, India has a vital role to play. Its rise as a regional and global leader, and its economic and strategic growth, are deeply in the U.S. interest. Like the United States, India increasingly sees its future in a secure, connected, and prosperous Asia-Pacific. We share not only democratic values but also a deep interest in a peaceful, rules-based order.

But if India is to achieve its potential, it will need to address myriad economic and governance challenges. Much of the excitement that the new Modi government has generated in India and around the world, most notably in the business community, has been around this idea of accountable and effective government that can unleash India’s economic potential.

While my colleague will discuss our economic and trade partnership in greater depth, I want to underscore that our economies, our businesses, our universities, and our peoples can partner in helping India realize sustained and inclusive growth. Our trade has already grown five-fold since 2000, to almost $100 billion annually. We can grow that five-fold again. We’re committed to addressing the inevitable frictions over trade through dialogue and engagement.

Our energy cooperation, one of the brightest areas of our partnership, is helping India meet its growing energy needs and creating opportunities for our businesses, through contracts for the export of American liquefied natural gas; fulfilling the promise of delivering cutting-edge U.S. nuclear energy technology; and collaboration on innovative clean energy solutions.

As I noted at the outset, the locus of our convergent strategic interests is in Asia. When Prime Minister Modi invited regional leaders to his inauguration, he demonstrated his commitment to strengthening India’s ties with its immediate region. We see a partnership with India that spans east, west, north, and south to advance shared interests across the Indo-Pacific region. Our counterterrorism and homeland security cooperation has already helped bring to justice several Mumbai terrorists, and we are committed to further strengthening this already robust cooperation to protect both our nations.

Defense cooperation continues to play a vital role in our partnership, which Secretary Hagel’s visit to India in early August will underscore. The breadth and depth of our military exchanges and exercises have grown. The Indian navy is participating in the RIMPAC maritime security exercise in Honolulu for the first time. Additionally, our joint naval exercise MALABAR began today and this year also includes the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, a great example of our trilateral cooperation. These military ties are complemented by our growing defense trade. We are overcoming bureaucratic hurdles and paving the way for increased defense trade and potential for co-production and co-development.

Mr. Chairman, the true potential of the relationship, as Prime Minister Modi said to us two weeks ago, is not just the benefits it brings to the Indian people or the American people, but rather that when the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy come together, the world will benefit. We deeply appreciate the strong support of the U.S. Congress and this committee in particular for the U.S.-India partnership. The advocacy and support of members of both houses and from both parties for this relationship has been one of its sources of strength. I look forward to working closely with you as we embark on a new chapter of U.S.-India relations in the months and years to come.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to answering any questions that you and others from the Committee may have.