FM Nirmala Sitharaman And US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Met On Thursday For The 8th Ministerial Meeting .
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met on Thursday here for the 8th ministerial meeting of the India-USA Economic and Financial Partnership and had productive discussions on various subjects, including recovery from the pandemic, climate finance, and anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism .
During the ministerial meeting, both ministers took stock of the extensive efforts that have already been undertaken by both sides to deepen mutual understanding and highlighted new elements of the vital bilateral relationship.
“We had productive discussions on a range of subjects, including the macroeconomic outlook and recovery from the pandemic, financial regulatory and technical collaboration, multilateral engagement, climate finance, and anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism,” US Treasury Department said.
In the run up to the UN climate change conference (COP 26) at the end of the month , India has been pushing for rich countries to meet their Paris Climate Finance Commitment of $100 Billion per year .
At Thursday’s meeting, the sides also shared views global efforts to increase climate ambition and each country’s effort to meet stated goals. India has been under pressure – including from the U.S. and U.K. – to up its commitments from Paris , including by providing a deadline to reach ‘Net Zero’ emissions. India has so far not declared further climate action commitments and has argued that developing countries need space to grow and that rich countries need to move towards net minus commitments in addition to fulfilling their climate finance pledges .
India and the U.S. also reiterated their support for “debt sustainability and transparency in bilateral lending,” presumably a reference to China’s lending practices under its Belt and Road Initiative which has led borrowing countries to unsustainable debt positions.
