Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized a session with Mr Timothy Geithner, US Treasury Secretary and Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of India, on 6th April in New Delhi, followed by an exclusive dinner. The session was moderated by Mr Tarun Das, former Chief Mentor, CII.

India and the US have far more things in common than areas of discord. Mr Geithner pointed out that India and the US have remarkably few challenges and a lot of opportunities. The two economies need to effectively collaborate in addressing the challenges and taking advantage of emerging opportunities.

Rebuilding the US economy will need inputs from the success of India’s fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies. India’s success lies in not following a cautionary approach but in avoiding the classic mistake that most economies made in managing the fiscal situation. India is not vulnerable to the ups and downs of the
global economic vagaries to a great extent because of its policies.

India’s growth is dependent on the success of the economic reforms it is carrying out “The strength of its economic future lies in its policy makers’ vision for substantive and inclusive growth rather than a focus strictly on GDP statistics”, he said.