Asheville, Aug 2026 : The White House has praised India’s latest economic performance, describing the country as a “dynamic, strong and resilient economy” after official data showed that India’s gross domestic product expanded by 7.8 per cent.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai said the latest growth figures strengthened the Trump administration’s assessment of India as one of the world’s rapidly expanding major economies and highlighted the opportunities the country presents for American businesses and investors.
“India’s a very dynamic and very strong and resilient economy,” Desai told IANS in an interview on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
Desai said India’s economic scale, combined with its rapid growth, made the country an increasingly important destination for global investment. He noted that the expansion of the Indian economy could create significant opportunities for US companies looking to enter new markets, expand operations and strengthen their presence in one of the world’s largest economies.
“India’s obviously a very large economy,” he said, adding that the country “represents a lot of opportunities” for American and international industries.
The White House official described India’s growth trajectory as “a very exciting story” for both the US government and the American business community, signalling Washington’s interest in deepening economic engagement with New Delhi.
Desai said the Trump administration was keen to encourage greater American investment in India while simultaneously seeking to attract more Indian companies and investors to the United States.
“The president and administration are very keen to grow and develop that bilateral trade and economic relationship,” he said.
His comments come as India and the United States continue discussions on strengthening their economic partnership across trade, investment, manufacturing, energy and emerging technologies.
Desai also underlined the strategic importance President Donald Trump attaches to the India-US relationship and referred to Trump’s longstanding personal equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The American Indo-Indian relationship is of very high importance to him,” Desai said, adding that Trump has “often talked about his personal friendship with Prime Minister Modi.”
He expressed confidence that discussions between the two governments would remain productive, saying there would be opportunities for further engagement in the coming days, weeks, months and years.
The economic relationship between the two countries is also expected to feature prominently in discussions involving US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and finance ministers from G20 nations gathered in Asheville.
Desai said Bessent and his international counterparts remained in regular contact on issues affecting the global economy. He indicated that restoring economic growth would be a central focus of the G20 discussions.
“A big topic of discussion is going to be restoring economic growth as the north star of the G20,” he said.
According to Desai, the participating countries would explore measures to accelerate global economic expansion, improve wages and raise living standards.
“We’re going to look at ways to turbocharge global economic growth,” he said, highlighting the importance of stronger economic activity for workers and households worldwide.
The White House official also provided an update on negotiations over a proposed India-US trade agreement. According to Desai, the discussions have moved beyond broad political understandings between the leadership of the two countries and are now focused on detailed technical issues.
“There’s obviously broad agreement at the leader-to-leader level,” he said.
Desai explained that negotiating teams were now working to resolve the remaining technical details required to finalise the agreement. These include matters such as the Harmonised Tariff Schedule codes used by the United States to classify imported goods and determine applicable customs duties.
“It’s now up to the technical teams to iron out the smaller nitty-gritty details,” he said.
The HTS system plays an important role in US trade policy because the classification assigned to an imported product determines the tariff treatment applicable to it. Resolving such technical classifications is therefore a key part of detailed trade negotiations.
Desai said Washington remained optimistic about the prospects of the agreement and reiterated that Trump wanted to develop a comprehensive relationship with New Delhi.
“We’re very optimistic about that,” he said, adding that Trump “wants a strong partnership, both economic and political” with India.
The latest White House comments underline the growing importance of India in Washington’s economic calculations. With its large consumer market, expanding manufacturing base, technology sector and strong growth outlook, India is increasingly viewed as an important partner for American businesses seeking opportunities abroad.
The G20 discussions in Asheville are expected to provide another platform for India and the US to engage on global growth, trade and investment, while the ongoing bilateral negotiations could further shape the economic relationship between the two countries in the years ahead.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
