The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), a nonprofit corporation focused on stimulating business relations between the US and India, and enhancing the strategic relationship between the two countries was launched yesterday. India's finance and defense minister Arun Jaitley officially unveiled the new organisation at the launch event.

USISPF is committed to creating the most powerful strategic partnership between the US and India. Promoting bilateral trade is an important part of USISPF's work, but USISPF's mission reaches far beyond this. It is about business and government coming together in new ways to create meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens. We are entering a new era based on a strategic partnership between the US and India – one where we will work closely together with business and government leaders to achieve our goals of driving economic growth, job creation, innovation, inclusion, and entrepreneurship.

USISPF's leadership and board have been carefully selected based on their unique expertise and strong government and business relationships in both the US and India. Mukesh Aghi will lead USISPF as President and Gaurav Verma will serve as Chief Operating Officer. USISPF's Board of Directors will include Chairman John Chambers (Executive Chairman, Cisco), Vice-Chairs Punit Renjen (Global CEO, Deloitte LLP) and Edward Monser (President, Emerson Electric), and Board Members Indra Nooyi (Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo), Ajay Banga (President & CEO, MasterCard), Ambassador Susan Esserman (Partner, Steptoe & Johnson), Secretary William Cohen (Chairman & CEO, The Cohen Group), Purna Saggurti (Chairman of Global Corporate & Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch), and Ambassador Frank Wisner (International Affairs Advisor, Squire Patton Boggs).

"Following the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump's meetings in the US in June 2017, I am incredibly confident about the powerful partnership between the US and India – which is one that I believe can serve as a model for the rest of the world," said John Chambers, Chairman of USISPF. "Our two countries will be able to make great strides in the months and years to come, and USISPF is honored to be a part of this exciting future."

"The launch of USISPF represents a new chapter in the US and India relationship," said Mukesh Aghi, President of USISPF. "We are confident that we will be able to elevate the US and India partnership to new heights by prioritising mutual opportunities that will benefit businesses, governments, and citizens in both countries."