Us President Barack Obama Announces $10bn India Deals
President Barack Obama spoke in Mumbai today, announcing new deals - primarily in export related deals - between the United States and India. In total the deals are expected to in the $10 billion dollar range. The president spoke of the United States and India as "united against terrorism" and dismissed the stereotypes that India is "a nation of call centers".
The White House said the deals for new export business with India would help to support around 54,000 jobs in the United States.
Some of the deals expected to contribute to this included:
- The sale by Boeing of 30 new 737 aircraft to private Indian airline SpiceJet. The White House says this will help support over 12,000 US jobs.
- Preliminary agreement had been reached on the Indian purchase of 10 Boeing C-17s military transport planes.
- The sale by GE of fighter 107 F414 jet engines to the Indian military.
- A separate deal with GE worth $500m (£309m) for the sale of six heavy duty gas turbines and three steam turbines to India's Reliance Energy Ltd.
- Harley-Davidson plans a new plant in India to assemble American-made motorcycle kits.
- The White House said India had identified GE subsidiary GE Transportation, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Electro-Motive Diesel, of LaGrange, Illinois, a unit of Caterpillar Inc, as bidders to supply Indian railways with over 1,000 diesel locomotives over 10 years.
The president said the relationship between the US and India was one of the "defining and indispensable partnerships of the 21st Century.
What do you think about the President's initiative to work with India? Is a strong relationship with India a power move to reduce our dependancy on China as a goods importer to the US? Or even something more?
Leave your comments below!