On Sept 22, 2015, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker welcomed India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman for the first U.S. - India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue held in Washington, DC. Both Sides assessed that ties between U.S. and India have never been stronger, and pledged to build on this momentum by pursuing new areas of collaboration.