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00:00I hope that as we have an incoming administration that's raising fair questions about trade,
00:05we can use that for an honest discussion about how we can have trade that isn't just about
00:09the benefit economically of each other, but how we can see that our over-dependence on
00:15one country in this world hampers all of our security.
00:19That would be, I think, the biggest and best thing we could work on next.
00:23Sir, there are certain proceedings going on in the U.S. related to Adani in India.
00:26So, would you like to comment on that issue?
00:29No, I don't have any comment on that.
00:30Obviously, we have independent criminal justice from our political.
00:33It's different than a lot of countries.
00:35But no, look, we have had amazing partners with the great industrialists here, with the
00:39big companies.
00:40We've sometimes been funding directly new factories, ports, and other things.
00:44And I would hope that that vision continues no matter what.
00:47Because we're seeing a great new India be built, and we're seeing a capacity of Indian
00:50companies to do that outside of India.
00:53Whether it's in the region, in places like Sri Lanka, or whether it's in the eastern
00:56coast of Africa, I would hope we keep our eye on the ball that that is the most important
01:00thing of who has the capacity, how can we partner, and ensure that debt traps and state-based,
01:07you know, more autocratic visions instead have democratic-led industrialists from across
01:13both of our nations.
01:14And there is also, like, speculations are going on whether or not our Prime Minister
01:18Narendra Modi will get an invite for the oath-taking ceremony of President-elect Mr. Trump.
01:24I can't speak to that.
01:25I don't know anything about the invitations.
01:27I do know that Prime Minister Modi and President-elect Trump are incredibly close.
01:33I look forward to when they will meet together directly.
01:35I would expect that to be in Washington first, and then later in the second half of the year,
01:39most likely when India hosts the Quad, I would expect President Trump to come here.
01:43So it's not about invitations to a crowded swearing-in.
01:47It's about the one-on-one conversations that we'll have that will define the next chapter
01:51of our relationship.
01:53I think about the IMEC.
01:54People who have showed, countries that have shown interest in the IMEC are also very close
01:55trade partners with China.
01:56Right.
01:57How differently do you think this can be handled?
01:58And would you think that would be an obstacle to advancing IMEC?
02:07I think IMEC, it's very important, and the vision laid out by India and the United States
02:10is that we have to ensure that it's built by companies who are not just state actors,
02:16heavily subsidized, creating debt traps for companies, for countries, et cetera.
02:20I think that we can architect this in a way that achieves just that.
02:24So when you look at our Gulf partners, when you look at Israel, when you look at Europe,
02:28when you look at India, it is pretty clear how to do this.
02:31And when I said it's hit a bit of a pause, I didn't mean that the work has slowed down.
02:35The final execution has, but when I visited Saudi recently, they're still gung-ho about
02:41this idea.
02:42When I speak privately to Israelis, they want to see this in a post-peace era.
02:46And certainly the United States has been doing the steady work.
02:48So we need companies that are not going to be controlled by state actors that are a threat.
02:53And that's not something just that the United States is saying.
02:55I think our partners in the Gulf area share that as well.
02:58Speaking about security, economic security is also an important indicator for the closings
03:05between two countries.
03:06How differently do you think the new President Trump's call for tariffs, and how would that
03:12affect India later?
03:15Look, I think we all support in the United States the idea of what President-elect Trump
03:19is saying, that trade should be done fairly.
03:21We're very proud to be India's number one trading partners, but we do have a trade deficit
03:25with India.
03:26Part of that is by choice because we have information technology companies here, back
03:31ends of offices and front ends of offices.
03:33That's by choice of American companies.
03:35On the flip side, I do share President-elect Trump's vision that our tariffs are still
03:41too high here.
03:42I've said that quite a bit.
03:44Some of ours, quite frankly, to India, are too high.
03:47If we want to create a special relationship that allows the flow and sees semiconductors
03:52made here, cars made here, electronics made here, computers made here from investments
03:57of American companies, we still have made some amazing progress, like iPhones and other
04:01things, but we've got a long way to go.
04:03That should be a top priority for all of us.
04:05So I hope the goal is not to launch a trade war, but to use an honest trade conversation
04:10to finally eliminate those barriers and to see fair trade and strategic trade that can
04:15ensure that we're not overly dependent on China.
04:17Two more questions.
04:18Last two questions.
04:19Yeah, we have two more questions and then we'll be done.
04:20I would like to make it a little lighter.
04:21Yeah, sure.
04:22Tell me about how you got cricket in LA.
04:23That's something you...
04:24So an Indian friend mentioned it's great.
04:31You have record military exercises, record trade, record visas, but the only thing we
04:36actually cared about is you put cricket in the Olympics.
04:38So you can go home now happy.
04:41To me, this was something we were working on before I was ambassador, because we saw
04:44that cricket was the largest sport in the world that was not in the Olympics.
04:48So when I won the Olympics for Los Angeles with our chairman of the Olympic bid, Casey
04:53Wasserman, the two of us sat down, you get to pick five demonstration sports that hopefully
04:57then become permanent.
04:58And we didn't know what the other...