India, US have ability to shape larger global agenda: Jaishankar on bilateral ties

In an online interactive session at the India Ideas Summit, he said the two countries have the ability to shape a larger global agenda. "I understand the centrality of the economic relations....These are bread and butter issues. But I think, between India and the US, while we work through trade issues, we need to think bigger," he said.

India and the US need to resolve the pending problems in trade relations and move into something bigger, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. In an online interactive session at the India Ideas Summit, he said the two countries have the ability to shape a larger global agenda.

"I understand the centrality of economic relations....These are bread and butter issues. These are really what makes countries deal with each other. But I think, between India and the US, while we work through trade issues, we need to think bigger," he said. He said beyond trade, there is a much bigger connection between India and the US which he called knowledge innovation.

"It is vital that we have a strong convergence on the big picture," he said. Delving into geopolitics, Jaishankar said the US really has to learn to work with a more multipolar world with more plurilateral arrangements.