POCA — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., welcomed India’s deputy ambassador to the United States to West Virginia on Wednesday in hopes of strengthening the relationship between the Mountain State and the world’s second most populous country.
Capito and Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the deputy chief of mission from the Indian Embassy, spent the afternoon touring Poca-based Kanawha Scales and Systems, a company that specializes in the weighing and automation industry.
The two walked together while asking representatives of the company questions about their equipment and their exports.
James Freeman, Kanawha Scales and Systems’ chief financial officer, told Capito and Sandhu how the company began as one that was largely focused on the weighing industry in coal and chemicals, specifically in the United States.
But over time, Freeman said, with the coal industry struggling in recent years, the company has had to diversify its portfolio and begin working on new forms of technology and expanding its presence around the world.
“The international market is a very important part of our growth,” he said.
The stop at the local company was one of many Sandhu made Wednesday. He also met with the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the state development office, state health officer Rahul Gupta and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
India’s growth offers an opportunity to enhance a partnership that already has been rewarding for the West Virginia, its businesses and the quickly expanding South Asian country, Capito said.
Building the relationship between India and West Virginia is important in finding ways to diversify the state’s economy, she said, while acknowledging the Mountain State’s abundance of energy, in coal and natural gas.
“India is our third largest trading partner,” she said. “India is the third largest importer of West Virginia goods. There’s a good, solid relationship there.”
With a population of 1.2 billion, India is looking to states like West Virginia for new technologies, as well as investment opportunities.
Sandhu said he would take what he learned Wednesday back to Indian companies that might be interested in building a presence in West Virginia.
As a small state, West Virginia offers flexibility that other states don’t have, Capito said.
“The further we push it and develop relationships, it’s going to be good for West Virginia businesses,” she said.
“There are broad areas where there is future collaboration between us,” Sandhu said.
Capito said one thing that would be beneficial to both India and West Virginia would be to pass legislation that would allow for a more expeditious process to export liquefied natural gas.
While thanking Capito for her hospitality, Sandhu, who was on his first trip to West Virginia, invited the freshman senator on a similar trip to India.
“I think that would be great,” Capito said.