Exploring India's Rise and Role in the Region : Insights from Ambassador Kenneth Juster

India is emerging as a new global superpower with a dynamic economy, a powerful military with nuclear capabilities and a vital location at the heart of Asia. Besides becoming the world’s largest country this year with almost 1.5 billion people, for the last 20 years, its economy has averaged over 6% annual GDP growth - and has surpassed China’s economic growth since 2020.
Long the dominant geopolitical player in South Asia and a global leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, India is now both a global force and a highly courted and desired ally. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is India’s most powerful leader in decades, and he is very willing to enhance India’s prominence on the world stage.
India’s economic and military ties with the U.S. have vastly increased in recent years - especially in light of their common concern and desire to reduce Chinese dominance in the region. But, as proven by the Ukraine War and India’s ongoing deep ties with Russia, India is pursuing a global strategy that strengthens India first and any alliances may only be secondary or transactional in nature.
Ambassador Kenneth Juster served as Ambassador of the U.S. to India from 2017 to 2021. He knows the recent surge of India first-hand and the highly popular, and sometimes controversial, leadership of Modi. Ambassador Juster addresses India’s rise, its increasingly influential role in the world, and the importance of India to the U.S. now and in the years to come.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Ambassador Kenneth I. Juster served as the 25th U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India from 2017-2021. He is a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations with over forty years of experience as a senior government official, senior business executive, and senior law partner.
Ambassador Juster previously served in the U.S. government as Deputy Assistant to the president for international economic affairs, on both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council (2017), undersecretary of commerce (2001-2005), counselor (acting) of the State Department (1992-1993), and deputy and senior advisor to Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger (1989-1992).
In the private sector, Ambassador Juster has been a partner at the global investment firm Warburg Pincus (2010-2017), a senior executive at Salesforce.com (2005-2010), and a senior partner at the law firm Arnold & Porter.