India continues to engage with US to deepen strategic convergences on issues of mutual concern: Govt

New Delhi: India continues to engage with the US administration at various levels to deepen "strategic convergences" on all issues of mutual concern, the government informed Parliament on Friday.

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said this in a written response in Lok Sabha on whether the government has assessed the impact of 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) policies on Indian trade, immigration and strategic interests.

The query also sought details of the diplomatic strategy of the government to "safeguard India's economic and geopolitical interests" in light of the recent initiative of US administration.

"The Government of India continues to engage with the US administration at various levels to deepen strategic convergences on all issues of mutual concern," Singh said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington DC on February 12-13 for an official working visit at the invitation of the US President. The joint statement issued by the leaders launched the 'US-India COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century' -- to drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation, he said.

The leaders resolved to take an integrated approach to strengthen and deepen bilateral trade across the goods and services sector, and will work towards "increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepening supply chain integration", Singh said.

To this end, the leaders set a new goal for bilateral trade -- 'Mission 500' -- aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

The leaders also announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), Singh said.

Both leaders emphasised that the evolution of the world into a global workplace calls for putting in place innovative, mutually advantageous and secure mobility frameworks. In this regard, the leaders committed to streamlining avenues for legal mobility of students and professionals while also aggressively addressing illegal immigration and human trafficking, Singh said.