AHMEDABAD, India — Secretary of State John Kerry arrived here on Sunday to promote economic ties with India and set the stage for President Obama’s visit later this month.
During his two-day visit, Mr. Kerry will join Prime Minister Narendra Modiat an investment conference in Mr. Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
The United States wants to boost trade with India to $500 billion a year from nearly $100 billion in 2013. American companies have faced considerable challenges to expanding their business here, including caps on foreign investment, disputes over intellectual property and provisions on corporate liability that have hampered nuclear energy projects.
In addition to meeting with Mr. Modi and other Indian officials, Mr. Kerry plans to meet with Indian and American business executives.
“There are some tricky issues, which I think the government is working its way through,” said a senior State Department official, who could not be identified in accordance with the agency’s protocol for briefing reporters.
Relations between the United States and India have improved considerably since a 2013 row, in which an Indian diplomat was arrested on charges that she underpaid her maid and lied on her visa application. The diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, was eventually granted diplomatic immunity and told to leave the United States.
Mr. Obama is expected to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations on Jan. 26, marking the first time an American president has been invited to the event. It remains to be seen whether the president’s trip will be symbolic or if it will produce tangible agreements on economic issues.
“There’s a great deal of desire on both sides to be able to have the president’s visit be an opportunity to be able to see some significant achievements in this area,” the State Department official said. “It’s too early to tell whether we’re going to be able to get there, but that is certainly the focus on both sides.”
Mr. Kerry will also meet here with Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan, the first time in recent memory that a secretary of state has met with a senior official from the Himalayan kingdom.
On his way to India, Mr. Kerry stopped in Munich on Saturday to meet with Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, who has been in Germany since November receiving medical treatment. During their 90-minute meeting, Mr. Kerry and Sultan Qaboos discussed the situation in Yemen, the fighting in Syria, tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, the terrorist attacks in Paris and the nuclear talks with Iran.
Sultan Qaboos has served as a channel to Iranian officials on the nuclear issue. Mr. Kerry plans to see his Iranian counterpart in Geneva on Wednesday, on the eve of a new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States.