We were thrilled to host the USISPF VII Annual Leadership Summit 2024 in Washington, D.C. yesterday, celebrating the special bonds between the United States and India.

The Summit was the first high-level U.S.-India dialogue post the General Elections in India and touched on themes of the deep friendship between the United States and India and elevating the most important strategic partnership of the 21st century.

USISPF Chairman John Chambers and President Mukesh Aghi honored Henry Kravis with the USISPF Global Leadership Award for his unwavering commitment to strengthening the U.S.-India relationship. Under Henry’s leadership, KKR has invested over $11 billion in India, creating thousands of jobs and boosting the Indian economy.

We were privileged to welcome senior White House officials, Neera Tanden, Domestic Policy Advisor to President Biden, Jon Finer, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor. We also had the honor of hosting Senator Dan Sullivan, Senator Steve Daines, Ambassador, Sripriya Ranganathan, USISPF board members Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM, and Purna Saggurti, Vice Chairman of Bank of America, officials from the US Government and Embassy of India, and other distinguished guests.

We express gratitude to our board members, members, guests, and sponsors for making the summit a resounding success.

Here are some glimpses of the event.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the U.S. for a historic state visit on the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden from June 21-23, 2023. On the last day of his state visit, USISPF hosted PM Modi at the Kennedy Center. Prime Minister Modi delivered a special address at the landmark event with opening remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

USISPF awarded the Global Leadership Award 2022 to Chip Kaye, the CEO of Warburg Pincus, and Sumant Sinha, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of ReNew Power. Mukesh Aghi, USISPF President, said, “It was Chip who led Warburg Pincus’s investment in Bharti Airtel over two decades back that paved the way through for global private equity firms to start looking at India, and Sumant has emerged as a leader in the new and renewable energy industry.

In addition, USISPF presented the Distinguished Services Award for the first time to recognize contributions to strengthening defense ties between the U.S. and India. We were proud to honor General James Mattis, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Davies Family Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution, and General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Former Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army. 

In 2021, we recognized that the global pandemic that ravaged the world also served as a call to action: we were proud to award our Leadership Award to Natarajan Chandrasekaran of Tata, Punit Renjen of Deloitte and Raj Subramaniam of FedEx for their outstanding work in their relief efforts to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic in India.

In addition, USAID Administrator Samantha Power launched the U.S.-India Alliance for Women’s Economic Empowerment during the Summit. The Alliance is a public-private partnership between USAID, the U.S Department of State, USISPF, and George Washington University, to promote women’s entrepreneurship and workforce participation in India.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at USISPF’s third Annual Leadership Summit in September 2020, through video conference. 

The summit centered around “Navigating New Challenges” with discussions around India’s future as a global manufacturing hub, India’s gas market, attracting FDI and more. The 2020 Leadership Award was conferred on Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra and Adobe Chairman and CEO Shantanu Narayen.

2019 saw a dual summit in New Delhi and Washington, D.C. 
In DC, Ambassador Harsh V Shringla participated in a conversation with Dow Wilson, President & CEO, Varian Medical Systems. In Delhi, we were honored to host Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State (2005-2009); Dr. Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State (1973-1977); Dr. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs; Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways; and Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs.

Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to the White House, presented Ajay Banga, then Mastercard CEO, and Azim Premji, Wipro Chairman, with USISPF’s Global Excellence Award.

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) hosted its first Annual Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. in July 2018. The summit was anchored by a fireside chat with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. In his conversation with USISPF Chairman John Chambers, Kissinger described the US and India as having “complementary interests.” 

The day’s speakers included USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney; the Honorable Navtej Sarna, Ambassador of India to the United States; Jeffrey Gerrish, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative; and Senators Rob Portman, Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Mark Warner (D-VA). During the Summit, D. Jim Umpleby III, CEO of Caterpillar Inc. and Ajay Singh, CEO of SpiceJet, were each presented with the USISPF Leadership Award, for their transformative leadership and role in expanding collaboration between the U.S. and India.