Yellen urges closer US-India ties to ‘diversify’ supply chains away from China ahead of G20 summit

Washington looking to cut reliance on countries that ‘present geopolitical and security risks’, says American treasury secretary in swipe at Beijing

But no guarantee of smooth dealings between US and India given their past tariff disputes and other policy differences, analysts observe

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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calls for boosting economic integration with India during her visit to New Delhi on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:00am, 12 Nov 2022

Just days before US President Joe Biden sits down with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, his top economic diplomat sought to deepen ties with India to “diversify” supply chains away from Beijing.

At the Microsoft India Development Centre outside New Delhi, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen described India – whose decades of border disputes with China have frayed relations with its Asian neighbour – as an “indispensable partner” in the Indo-Pacific region. Yellen also made a spirited pitch for Biden’s ‘friend-shoring’ agenda.

In a clear allusion to China, she said the US was looking to “diversify away from countries that present geopolitical and security risks to our supply chain” and whose “approaches clash with our human rights values” by boosting economic integration with “trusted partners like India”.

Yellen, who will join Biden in Indonesia on Saturday, added that America’s largest solar manufacturer, First Solar, was provided with US government debt financing of up to US$500 million to build a facility in India to chip away at China’s market dominance.

China currently accounts for 80 per cent of the world’s solar panel output.

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