The chairman of the US India Business Council and executive chairman of Cisco Systems writes exclusively for 'India Investment Journal' on the course India-US ties are likely to take and how the IT major is playing its part in this bilateral partnership. Around the world, anti-trade sentiment is on the rise. It has taken center-stage in the US presidential election, and helped drive the UK's recent “Brexit” vote to leave the European Union (EU). Meanwhile, the global economy entered into its fifth consecutive year of subpar growth in international trade this year, according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Despite this trend, trade between the US and India remains at an all-time high. As the chairman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), an advocacy group that champions the case for free enterprise in the US-India corridor, I'm proud to help lead this partnership, which is forging a new growth and innovation story that I consider a model for the entire world. And there is potential to do much more, not just in terms of incremental trade or investment, but in terms of transforming businesses and the lives of 1.3 billion people in India. As Prime Minister Modi remarked in his address to the joint session of the US Congress in June, the two countries have “overcome the hesitations of history” by forging a strategic alliance rooted in our guiding principles of freedom, equality and democracy. Most notably, this partnership paved the way for a landmark civil nuclear agreement between both nations, the US-India Civil Nuclear Deal, which in the 10 years following its passage has tripled two-way trade to more than $107 billion. The US holds more official dialogues with India than with any other country - a testament to our commitment to India. In fact, the US and India recently held the second India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue in New Delhi, where US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Indian External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Commerce and Industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman to advance bilateral cooperation around the two nations shared priorities of generating sustainable economic growth, creating jobs, improving the business and investment climate, enhancing livelihoods, and sustaining the rules-based global order. At Cisco, we're helping strengthen this bilateral trade relationship through continued investments in India's economic transformation. Building on our 21 years of operations in the country, we recently announced a series of strategic investments that will total more than $100 million, including $40 million to fund early-stage and growth-stage companies. Supporting the next phase of the country′s digitisation plans, Cisco will collaborate closely with state governments in India on strategic initiatives including the addition of six new innovation labs, three centres of expertise, funded university collaborations and skills investments.

Thanks to Prime Minister Modi's numerous structural reforms to encourage economic development, we expect these types of American investments to pick up in the coming years. Recent government reforms have helped cut government bureaucracy and incite innovation, such as the passage of Goods and Services Tax (GST), an entrepreneur-friendly bankruptcy code, the establishment of ebiz portals and the liberalisation of FDI in several sectors of the economy such as civil aviation and pharmaceuticals to send a message that India is open for business. As a result, India's ranking on WEF's global competitiveness index jumped from 55th in 2015 to 39th in 2016 - the largest jump among the 138 countries on the list. Simultaneously, FDI inflow (new equity) to India surged by $43.7 billion, or 30%, in past 12 months. So how can we propel the US-India partnership even further Modi's focus on infrastructure and logistics will be key, including an estimated investment of $1 trillion in overall infrastructure, with $140 billion for rail infrastructure, $15 billion for 100 Smart Cities, and a commitment to build 20 million affordable housing units. Likewise, it's critical that India's logistical services and transportation infrastructure keep up with its rapidly growing economy. It is estimated that India will also be the third largest aviation market by 2030 and need an additional 250 airports. Moreover, both the Indian and US governments should pursue open trade policies that, despite the political rhetoric, will continue to deliver economic prosperity for India and the United States. Smart economic reform in India can also incite greater American investment, such as privatizing public banks suffering with chronic bad loans that could help address the lack of adequate funding. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models need more clarity and a better de-risking mechanism for fruitful participation of the private sector. At the same time, steps should be taken to extend the depth of the corporate bond market to facilitate infrastructure financing. The government should also be applauded for rolling out the Single Window Clearance system for customs - a one-stop shop established in April - one that is operational only in a handful of other countries. Likewise, USIBC encourages India's steps towards trade liberalisation including supporting its interest in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region and resuming negotiations on a US-India Bilateral Investment Treaty. Further, to make our $500-billion target in bilateral trade goal a reality, India will need to aggressively address its talent gap, as outlined in Prime Minister Modi's “Make in India” initiative. India will soon have the largest workforce in the world, yet many workers don't have the skills required for the high-paying jobs of the future, in areas like data analytics, networking and cloud computing. To combat this issue, India will need to update its current educational system to focus on training the workforce for the jobs of the future. Businesses, including Cisco, will also play a role in reskilling existing and potential talent. That is why Cisco recently committed to training more than 250,000 students in India through our Networking Academies by 2020. I believe that the best is ahead for both the US and India, and that through continued government and business collaboration, we will see unprecedented opportunities. Both countries must strive to find a common ground on trade to move business ahead, which will require continued clarity in policy decisions, consistency in their application, and predictability for the road ahead. John Chambers is chairman of US India Business Council (USIBC) and executive chairman of Cisco Systems.