India-U.S. wrap-up: Country's ETF in focus amid Prime Minister Modi's visit
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The iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS:INDA) is in focus, as the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes his state visit to the U.S., in what will be a meeting between leaders of the world's two largest democracies.
Modi arrived in the U.S. on Thursday and was received by President Joe Biden with a ceremony on the White House South Lawn. After discussions, the two leaders held a joint press conference at which they touted their extensive trade relations, with Biden saying that trade between the two nations had almost doubled over the past decade to more than $191B.
"With this visit, we're demonstrating once more how India and the United States are collaborating on nearly every human endeavor and delivering progress across the board," Biden told reporters. "From designing new ways to diagnose and treat illnesses like cancer and diabetes, to collaborating on human spaceflight including sending an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station in 2024, to accelerate a global clean energy transition and tackling the climate crisis we face."
The visit is being closely watched as the U.S. is expected to announce major investments and deals with Indian companies and the government in an effort to boost ties and try to lure the nation away from its primary defense supplier Russia.
The following is a wrap-up of the numerous agreements that have been announced in recent days along with further details on Modi's actions.
Modi Meets with Industry Executives

The Indian Prime Minister met with Sanjay Mehrotra and Gary Dickerson, the top bosses of semiconductor giants Micron Technology (MU) and Applied Materials (AMAT), respectively.
Modi also met with General Electric (GE) CEO Larry Culp.
Later on Thursday, the Indian leader is scheduled to meet with more executives at an official White House state dinner. Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella and FedEx (FDX) CEO Raj Subramaniam are expected to attend.
Additionally, Modi met with Tesla (TSLA) top boss and Twitter owner Elon Musk, with the billionaire hinting that an announcement regarding a "significant investment" could happen soon.

Investments by Companies

GE Aerospace (GE) has signed a memorandum of understanding with India's state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force.
Applied Materials (AMAT) said it would invest $400M over the next four years in a new engineering center in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, which is seen as a hub for information technology.
Micron Technology (MU) has announced a new chip testing and assembly plant in the western Indian state of Gujarat that could result in an investment of $2.75B.
Bloomberg on Tuesday reported that Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) was looking for suppliers in India to assemble its Pixel phones in an attempt to diversify beyond China.
Back in April, iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) opened its first store in India's financial capital Mumbai. The country is quickly becoming the tech giant's most important manufacturing base outside of China.

Indian Airlines Snap up Boeing Planes

Air India, a carrier owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, has firmed up an order for 220 passenger planes from Boeing (BA). Biden in Thursday's conference said that 1M American jobs across 44 states would be supported by the purchase.
Akasa Air, another Indian low-cost carrier, has placed an order for four more Boeing (BA) 737s.

Defense Developments

Biden in Thursday's press conference said that the U.S. and India are growing their "major defense partnership with more joint exercises, more cooperation between our defense industries and more consultation and coordination across all areas."
India and the U.S. are reportedly set to announce a mega $3B deal involving the purchase of U.S.-made SeaGuardian drones.
The countries have also announced the launch of what they call the "Defense Acceleration Ecosystem" under which start-ups from both nations will work together to develop technologies for the military.

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