The Chairman of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, John Chambers, has said India is ready to be a global economic superpower. Chambers predicted that the country would surpass China and the US in a number of key economic metrics going forward. While speaking at the Annual India Leadership Summit 2024 in New Delhi, Chambers predicted almost 100 per cent higher GDP per capita income growth for India compared with China and 33 percent larger growth than the US in the near future.

Chambers lauded India's rapid progress in its economic development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said declaration of the US-India partnership as the 'most strategic partnership ever formed' was something of a watershed moment. "India will be nearly 100% bigger than China in terms of GDP per capita income growth", he said, while adding that the country's standard of living and overall growth will exceed all other countries by far during this period.

Speaking with regard to his long history of association with Prime Minister Modi, the former Cisco Systems CEO shared some insights with regard to his first impressions of Modi's vision for India. "When Prime Minister Modi came into office, I had the opportunity to hear his vision for India. I immediately recognized that he was laying the foundation for India's future", Chambers noted. He was quite sure that Modi would take the country through the greatest transformation and thus declared, "I knew he was going to lead the nation for the next five years and then execute an extraordinary transformation".

Chambers praised the Modi administration for its work over the last five years and maintained that it has provided a platform for growth in the decade ahead, making India the prime economy to see rapid growth in this century. 'This is India's century", he said, referring to the imperative that India can become the global template for growth through a collaborative partnership with the US and interaction with leaders representing business, government, academia, and civil society as well.

He also predicted that a strong US-India partnership may increase India's GDP growth by as much as 2% annually at the same time as positively impacting the US GDP growth by as much as 1%. "Working closely together will help generate a win-win situation for both countries", he asserted.

The USISPF summit would come just a couple of weeks after Prime Minister Modi had a successful visit to the United States, where he attended the Sixth Quad Leaders' Summit and addressed the UN General Assembly. It seeks to strengthen bilateral trade, enhance supply chains, and promote cooperation in key sectors like semiconductor investment, artificial intelligence, and next-generation technologies.

The summit, apart from talking about the economic relationship, will focus on defense ties, clean energy initiatives, and a free and open Indo-Pacific-all important steps toward deepening the strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi.