‘PM Modi understands potential of India-US relationship’: Ambassador Sandhu

India’s envoy to Washington, Taranjit Singh Sandhu said that “Prime Miner Narendra Modi understands the potential of the India-US relationship and has played a key role in building trust between the two countries.” He made this statement as he hailed the record USD 160 billion bilateral trade last year despite the pandemic.
In an event in Chicago organised the NID Foundation on Sunday, June 26,  he said,“As the head of 1.4 billion citizens, our Prime Miner has encouraged each of us to dream big. In a real sense, he has gone on and has shown us that these dreams can be achieved if pursued with determination and persence as seen in India’s rise on the global map.” “Let us all continue to dream big and work passionately towards achieving those dreams”, he added. 
Prime Miner Modi, he said, understands the potential of the India-US relationship and has played an important role in building trust between the two countries. “In the US, the Prime Miner saw a very close friend and a strong partner, critical to transforming the dreams and the development aspirations of nearly 1.4 billion Indians into reality,” he added.

He talked about how PM Modi, with his firm vision, has shaped this relationship and allowed for tangible outcomes with persent actions. He elaborated on how the US had chosen India as a major defence partner and the two countries engage in more bilateral military exercises with each than with any other country. He elaborated on the rise in India’s defence trade with the USA which was almost zero in the late 1990s and is now more than USD 20 billion in 2022. Similarly, the energy trade, which five years ago was almost zero, stands at USD 20 billion now.
The Indian Ambassador to the US also said, “Last year, we hit a horic high of more than USD 160 billion in India-US bilateral trade. It is beyond impressive that we were able to achieve this during the Covid-19 pandemic without any formal trade agreement and despite supply chain disruptions.”
In the PMs praise he talked about how the PM has been showing the world the way forward. He said, “Be it the act of providing the entire world with COVID-19 vaccines, relief missions in countries such as Afghanan or hand-holding nations in education or space research; be it his stance during COP26 Global Leaders’ Summit in Glasgow or during World Economic Forum’s Davos Summit, Narendra Modi has truly shown the world the way forward.” 
The event was organised eminent Indian-Americans including Bharat Barai, Darshan Singh Dhaliwal. It was attended a large number of Sikhs. The event was attended a large number of Sikhs from various parts of the Midwest. Among those who attended, included prominent personalities; including, senior US  senator Ron Johnson, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Dr Debbie Ford, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Robin Vos, Speaker of Wisconsin State Assembly, S Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chief Patron, NID foundation and Chancellor, Chandigarh University and General Atomic Chief Executive, Vivek Lall.Two books ‘Heartfelt-The Legacy Of Faith’ and ‘Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery’ were also released on the occasion. 

In his address, Sri Ravishankar applauded Prime Miner Modi for various initiatives taken him in the past eight years. “India has gone under a sea of change. From infrastructure development to attending to the poorest of the poor sections of the society, from the ease of doing business and many other initiatives, the progress and development undertaken the Prime Miner are phenomenal,” he said.
Senator Johnson talked about a strengthened US-India relationship after PM Modi came to power. “The US has always considered India as its natural ally. There is so much that the two countries are doing together and will continue to do together. The two countries are continuously deepening the major defence partnership, encouraging economic engagement and expanding the partnership on global health, pandemic preparedness and critical and emerging technologies,” he said.
Chief Patron of the NID Foundation, Satnam Singh Sandhu,  said, “On every trip of any country, the Prime Miner takes out time to meet the Indian community there, to talk to them, interact with them and take stock of any problem or issues they might be facing. The spirit of Vishwa Sadhbhavana stems from this very love and respect that the honourable Prime Miner has for the people and humanity at the global level,” he said.