AND THESE ARE JUST THE FIRST DATES:

U.S. firms hope for ignited India trade (David J. Lynch, 3/01/06, USA TODAY)

U.S.-India trade has been growing fast in recent years, but commercial ties remain comparatively undeveloped. U.S. exports to India reached $8 billion last year, more than double the 2000 figure. But that's a pittance, given India's population of 1.1 billion. U.S. firms sold almost twice as much last year to Brazil, which has a population less than one-fifth that of India. [...]

[B]ilateral trade, which totaled less than $27 billion last year, has been hamstrung by India's red tape and disastrous infrastructure. Roads, ports and utilities such as electricity and telephones are in awful shape — especially compared with rising economies such as China.

India maintained a mostly closed economy for decades after independence in 1947. Despite reforms that began in 1991, foreign investment remains limited. This fiscal year, it's expected to total just $5 billion, vs. the $60 billion that flooded into China. "India traditionally has been fairly ... inward looking. That's changing," says Jyoti Narasimhan, an economist at Global Insight.

UBS Securities says inward investment could double in three years. In its first major investment in six decades of sales to India, Boeing plans to spend up to $100 million on a new airplane maintenance facility and up to $75 million on a pilot training center. Both would fill glaring holes in India's booming aviation sector, Keskar says.

Wait until the relationship is fully developed.....

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 2, 2006 8:06 AM