US has necessary capital and technology while India offers both scale and talent: Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu

Over the last six months, there has been a flurry of activities in the bilateral ties.

"You take any day, there is a delegation from India in the US or an American visitor in India. Even as I speak, NSA Jake Sullivan is in New Delhi," he said.

There is an "unmistakable energy", a drive and a desire to get things done across sectors, he said.

"It was just in the end of January this year, in this very building, the two NSAs (Sullivan and Ajit Doval) along with the Commerce Secretary (Gina) Raimondo, spoke about the complementarities, in our vision, at the iCET (Initiative of Critical and Emerging Technology) Roundtable where we discussed, the need for our strategic, commercial and scientific worlds, to converge. India-US Initiative, on Critical and Emerging Technologies, has been a game changer, in our partnership," Sandhu said.

"Needless to say, all of this leads up to the historic visit of the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) to Washington DC. In about a week from now, PM Modi will be received, by President (Joe) Biden at the White House, for a State Visit. This will be, only, the third time, in our independent history, that India's leader is accorded, this honour by a US President," said the Indian Ambassador.

It will also be a rare occasion, where the Prime Minister will address, a joint session of the Congress, for the second time, joining a select group of world leaders, and the only Indian leader, to do so, twice, he told the audience. there will also be other important engagements, he added.

"Last time when my Prime Minister addressed the US Congress, in 2016, he spoke about overcoming, the hesitations of history. It is a measure, of how far we have come, in these last seven years, we have fixed our gaze, firmly on the future, building our cooperation, from the seas to the stars," he said.

Without mentioning any country in his speech, Sandhu urged American companies to reduce their dependence on China.

"Geopolitics has taught us, the follies of over-dependence, on single geographies. We ended up here, because we played short balls; took decisions, which were easy," he said.

"We need to diversify; build resilient, reliable, and sustainable, supply chains. We have already seen many US companies take advantage of the opportunity, of PLI (Production Linked Incentive) Schemes in India, including most recently Apple, and its supplier Foxconn. It is estimated that by 2025, one out of every 4 iPhones in the world will be manufactured in India. We need more such stories," Sandhu said.