Shantanu Narayen, the Indian-American CEO of Adobe, has been elected as the Vice Chairman of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), a new organisation set up to enhance business relations between India and the US.
The new representative body was set up to promote bilateral trade and work on creating “meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens”, the USISPF said in a statement.
“Strong strategic ties between the US and India have never been more important than they are today,” Narayen said. “The USISPF has emerged as a powerful force in the US-India strategic partnership,” he said.
“We are excited to welcome these three important leaders to our board,” said Mukesh Aghi, president of the USISPF. “They will add great value to the work that the USISPF board and staff is already doing with regards to trade, supply chain management and defence work,” he said.
In addition, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Gen (retd) David Petraeus has joined as a new advisor. Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of Spice Jet Limited and John Kern, senior vice president of Supply Chain Operations at Cisco, have joined the Washington-based advocacy group as its new members. The USISPF now has 31 board members.
“India is at a pivotal time in this relationship, with the United States recognising India as “a leading power” in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond,” said Singh.
Kern said India is an incredible country for Cisco, representing an emerging economy with a great growth opportunity, world-class talent, and an integral part of our global supply chain. “I look forward to building the US-India relationship through my work at Cisco and in my work at USISPF,” he said.
Petraeus, currently chairman of the KKR Global Institute, said he is a strong supporter of the relationship between the US and India, and look forward to being part of the important work of the USISPF.