In so far as the trade deal is concerned, Assocham’s Sood said, “While a structured bilateral agreement, still underway, would turbocharge the economic engagement, the mutual businesses are progressing apace anyway. Energy partnership is a new and fast-growing area of bilateral cooperation while lot more is expected in exchange of technology.”

On its part, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with US India Business Council (USIBC) launched a ‘$500 billion Roadmap’, a report that provides an assessment of current trends in US-India trade and the policy reforms needed to set business ties on a faster growth trajectory. Specifically, the report lists out 13 policy interventions to help boost trade between the two economies. Besides, India finalised a $3 billion defence deal with the US for the purchase of military equipment, including Apache and MH-60 Romeo helicopters.

A Boeing statement said: “We welcome India’s decision to acquire six AH-64 Apache helicopters and lifecycle services support for the Indian Army. Through our local entity, Boeing Defence India, we are supporting the P-8I, C-17, CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache with holistic lifecycle support to assist with India’s defence modernisation effort and mission-readiness at competitive costs.” In addition, the two sides signed three MoUs in health and oil sectors, amongst others.