Posted September 30, 2015

 

By Seshadri Ramkumar (s.ramkumar@ttu.edu)

 

LUBBOCK, Texas – Bilateral collaboration and technical exchanges between the United States and India in technical textiles are planned as part the two countries’ strategic and commercial cooperation.

 

At the first United States-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, held on September 22 in Washington, D.C., both countries agreed to cooperate in the field of technical textiles, among many other initiatives.

 

Washington bustling last week with international leaders that included Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping and a key delegation from India for the commercial dialogue.

 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker welcomed India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman. During this summit, strategic initiatives between the two countries in the field of technical textiles were agreed:

 

• The U.S. and India will help with exchanges between U.S. academia and Centers of Excellence in technical textiles in India. The Indian government has established eight centers 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 Government of India;

• Both countries will collaborate on standards development for technical textiles products; and

• The countries will address barriers related to technical textile exports between the two countries.

 

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, there are more than 2 million annual visits between the two countries that showcase strong bilateral cooperation.

 

Personally, this scribe has been engaged in many bilateral initiatives between India and the United States for more than a decade in the field of nonwovens and technical textiles and has provided international platforms at different places in India for the industry and academia by organizing the international conference, “Advances in Textiles, Nonwovens and Technical Textiles (ATNT).” Industry associations such INDA, TAPPI-NET Division and IFAI have supported the events and have helped with awareness creation and promotion of technical textiles in India.

 

Seshadri Ramkumar, PhD, FTA (honorary) is a professor of Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University.