Indian mangoes that have resurfaced in the United States after a long disappearance are a sign of friendship and a reflection of the bilateral partnership's power, robustness, and maturity, India's top envoy said as he joined the capital's influential community in mango diplomacy.
India's ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, noted that the fruit has been produced in India for over 5,000 years and that the country produces more than 40% of the world's total mangoes, saying it showed the close relations between the world's oldest and largest democracies.
"Friendship is symbolized by mangoes. "We celebrate the deep links of friendship that exist between India and the United States," Sandhu told a group of prominent Washingtonians at an India House reception on Thursday, when he served mango delights ranging from Mango Lassi to freshly cut mangoes.
Officials from the US Trade Representative, the US Department of Agriculture and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the US Department of Commerce attended the reception, which the ambassador claimed would not have been possible without their efforts.
"Today, we celebrate both sides' hard work in further strengthening the commercial and economic collaboration, as well as people-to-people ties," Sandhu remarked.
Both countries promised to settle decades-old market access issues during the latest India-US Trade Policy Forum Ministerial, which was held in India late last year.
During the conference, it was decided to offer Indian mangoes and pomegranates market access in the United States, and New Delhi agreed to let cherries, alfalfa hay, and pork from the United States.
Since then, both parties have been focusing on it.
"The India-US partnership's strength, robustness, and maturity are reflected in this." We may sit across from each other as friends and talk and handle problems that arise.
It demonstrates the enormous potential of our collaboration," Sandhu remarked. India-US bilateral trade reached USD 160 billion last year.
