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US and India forge formal technical textiles collaboration
By Seshadri Ramkumar
28 September 2015

http://www.wtin.com/article/2015/september/27915/us-india-bilateral-collaboration-on-technical-textiles/?channelId=1119

Bilateral collaboration and technical exchanges between the US and India in technical textiles are being planned as part of a newly forged strategic and commercial cooperation.

As part of the first US-India strategic and commercial dialogue, held on 22 September in Washington DC, both countries agreed to cooperate in the field of technical textiles among many other initiatives.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker welcomed India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman for the inaugral commercial dialogue.

During the summit a range of strategic initiatives between the two countries in the field of technical textiles were agreed:

- US and India will help with exchanges between US academia and centres of excellence in technical textiles in India. The Indian government has established eight centres for growing the field of technical textiles.

- The two countries will participate in trade expositions related to technical textiles, such as Technotex expo sponsored by the Indian government.

- Both countries will collaborate in standards development for technical textiles products.

- Both countries will address barriers towards technical textile exports between the two.

According to the US Department of Commerce, there are over two million annual visits between the US and India, indicating a need for this strong bilateral cooperation in industry.

Smaller scale bilateral initiatives between the two countries have been evident for over a decade in the field of nonwovens and technical textiles, with platforms such as the international conference Advances in Textiles, Nonwovens and Technical Textiles (ATNT) held in various locations in India aimed at bringing together the industry and academia from both countries.

Industry associations such INDA, TAPPI-NET Division and IFAI have supported these events in addition to helping with awareness creation and promotion of technical textiles in India.