A Washington State Mayors’ delegation is on its first-ever visit to India to learn about its culture and history. The visit aims to foster stronger ties, meaningful exchanges, and lasting partnerships between India and Washington State.
The Washington State Mayors’ delegation, currently on a visit to India, expressed excitement over learning about the culture and history of India and growing partnerships at the local and state level. The delegation, which embarked on its first-ever visit to India from Seattle on October 11, will be covering New Delhi, Bhubaneswar, and Mumbai till October 18 to foster stronger ties, meaningful exchanges and lasting partnerships between India and Washington State, the Consulate General of India in Seattle stated.
The delegation of mayors from Kent, Tukwila, Issaquah, Mukilteo, DuPont, University Place, and SeaTac is led by Washington State Senator Tina Orwall.
Delegation’s Goal: Understanding Culture and Growing Partnerships
Speaking with ANI, Orwall called it an honour to visit India and expressed hopes for ample opportunities to grow partnerships at various levels. She said that one of the primary goals of the delegation’s visit is to learn and embrace Indian culture, art, history and values. “It’s been such an honour to come to India, and we’ve just been part of this team that’s been hosted by the Consul General. And we really tried to set it up where we have state voices, we have our mayors, and we really feel like there are so many opportunities to grow our partnerships at the local and state level. One of our main goals is just to have a better understanding of the culture and the history. So today we were able to go to the temple, and we just really learned so much about the many, many years of innovation, of embracing arts, and the values our two countries share around democracy and supporting individual voice. And so I think that helps move us forward,” she said.
High-Tech and University Collaborations
She further defined India as a “high-tech” country, lauding the nation’s advancements in AI and technology. She also recognised Indian universities as a great area for partnerships. She said, “We’re a high-tech state; India is very high-tech, India advancing in AI, we’re looking at data centres and technology. So we want to hear the opportunities at our local levels to really come together. The other exciting one was our universities. We could be doing so much more partnerships with our universities around policies, so we’re very excited about that.”
Meanwhile, Tukwila Mayor Thomas McLeod seconded Orwall’s thoughts, describing the understanding of Indian culture and shared values as one of the main goals of the visit. He expressed his personal interest in exploring India and learning about its history, as this marks his first visit to India. “This is my first trip to India, and one of the things I wanted to take in was the people. I wanted to understand the people and learn more about culture, learn more about the amazing history of the Indian people, and try to understand the values that have built this great nation,” he said.
McLeod further shed light on the shared values between India and the US, while noting the ongoing effort between the two nations to help boost people-to-people ties help each other achieve bilateral success. “We are here from the Seattle area and one of our goals is to just come to India, understand more of the culture, understand shared values that we have, and shared goals that we can share both economically and in business relationships. The US has a strong, solid relationship with India. I know in my community, I’ve got members of different faiths of the Indian culture. We have great relationships, great business partners in my community. We need to show respect to one another, that doesn’t always happen. Right now, we have a challenge with our federal administration on just showing respect to people and consideration. But we are in some of these things together, and helping one another through them will go a long way in both having success,” he added.
Fostering People-to-People and Business Ties
Additionally, SeaTac Mayorhighlighted the exchange of ideas for people-to-people and business-to-business collaboration between India and the US with leaders from the Ministry of External Affairs. “My focus was on how to improve the relationship between the United States government and India, and thus people-to-people collaboration and business-to-business collaboration; those were the areas that I’m interested in. I talked to many business leaders within the Ministry of External Affairs of India here, and we exchanged ideas and views on how to collaborate for the future of our common interests,” he noted.
He further recognised India as an important partner for India, highlighting the common values, democracy, rule of law between the two nations, adding that the business relationship continues to grow amid the ongoing negotiations for the US-India trade deal. “India is a very, very important partner with the United States. We have common values: democracy, rule of law; those are the foundation of our relationship. Also, we have a business relationship as a growing economic power in this part of the world. India has become very important and an ally of the United States, exporting and importing a lot of goods and services, and people, actually. So, it’s very enlightening to see that so many good things came from India to America and, vice versa, a lot of good things coming from the United States to India,” the SeaTac Mayor said.
Exploring Local Connections and Space Economy
Furthermore, noting that her city comprises of a large Punjabi diaspora, Kent Mayor Dana Ralph recognised her visit to India as an opportunity to further experience the Indian culture, calling it “overwhelming and amazing.” She further expressed optimism about exploring opportunities to partner with India in the space economy. “My city in particular has a very large Punjabi diaspora. And so it’s a community that I’ve spent a lot of time trying to connect with and building relationships with. And so this just felt like an opportunity to learn a little bit more about the many cultures of India and experience something I’ve never experienced before. It is my first visit. So it has been overwhelming and amazing,” she said.
She added that, “There is a growing space economy in India. We have a long history of space development. The lunar rover was built in our city 50 years ago, and now Blue Origin and Stoke Space are building rockets and they’re getting ready to go back to the moon. And so learning that there is that same innovation here in India, we’ll be looking for opportunities to partner.”
Focus on Sister City Agreements
Subsequently, DuPont City Council Member Jugal Thakor said that amid the many sectors to explore in terms of partnership with India, tapping on “sister city or friendship city agreements” remains his key area of focus, which he said he has been encouraging other delegation members to do. Calling the US the biggest supporter of democracy, especially the biggest democracy in the world, India, he hoped for a great future of supportive bilateral partnership, despite the “hiccups.” “It’s a very important visit with so many mayors from across Washington State. Mainly, it’s business and economic development, and that’s what we are going to explore. At least my idea is also to explore sister city or friendship city agreements within India, and I’m trying to encourage other mayors to do so,” he said.
“India is the largest democracy, and the US is the biggest supporter of democracy, so we are always going to go well together. There are always some hiccups and ups and downs, but I’m looking forward to a great future, building relationships, and having more business and economic ties with India,” he added.
Engagements with MEA and Indian Think Tanks
Earlier, the Consulate General of India in Seattle said in a post on X that on day 1 of their visit, the delegation “held fruitful interactions with Additional Secretary (AMS) & Additional Secretary (XP) at the Ministry of External Affairs and interacted with leading Indian think tanks. The engagements explored opportunities to strengthen India–Washington State ties through economic cooperation, academic exchanges and people-to-people partnerships.” An engaging Day 1 for Washington State Mayors’ Delegation in India! The delegation held fruitful interactions with Additional Secretary (AMS) & Additional Secretary (XP) at the Ministry of External Affairs and interacted with leading Indian think tanks. The engagements explored opportunities to strengthen India–Washington State ties through economic cooperation, academic exchanges and people-to-people partnerships. (13 October 2026, New Delhi) @MEAIndia @AmbVMKwatra @IndianEmbassyUS @AmbMoKumar @NagNaidu08 — India In Seattle (@IndiainSeattle) October 14, 2026
Broader Context: India-US Trade Deal
The delegation visit comes as India and the US continue negotiations for the conclusion of the India-US trade deal. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that negotiations on the bilateral trade deal were progressing towards a possible conclusion, adding that both sides were working to resolve outstanding issues.
Speaking in a conversation with John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Delhi, Jaishankar said that discussions were ongoing between the trade officials of both countries, while noting that he would not disclose details of the negotiations publicly. “I think we are waiting on a few things. I wouldn’t be comfortable spilling the beans in public. It’s a small select order… When countries negotiate with an economy like the United States, obviously one part of it is what you work out between yourselves and the US, and one part of it is how you fare vis-a-vis competitive economies. That part of it is not entirely clear because not everybody has worked out the deal. I think people, the trade ministers, USTR, and our Commerce and Industry Minister are there, working on that. They’re ironing it out. My sense is that this is an issue which is heading towards a landing point,” Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar further explained that India’s relationship with the United States was based on a strategic partnership rather than a formal alliance, adding that the underlying areas of convergence between the two countries had not fundamentally changed. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)