India, US hold high-level strategic and commercial dialogue on economic growth

Washington, D.C.,Sept. 23 : US Secretary of State John Kerry and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the first India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue on economic growth.Emphasising the importance of building commercial ties to drive the U.S.-India partnership forward, the two sides applauded the focus on innovation and entrepreneurship as an area for cooperation. They agreed to facilitate an innovation forum in 2016, a platform for U.S. and Indian entrepreneurs to share best practices in promoting a culture of innovation and the creation of sister innovation hubs.The two sides launched a joint work stream on ‘Ease of Doing Business’. They agreed to continue exchanges of information and best practices on cross- border trade, and to continue commercial law-related initiatives on issues like insolvency and contract enforcement, and transparency.They also agreed to expand cooperation through quarterly discussions on these and other related issues, as may be mutually decided.