Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York to a rousing welcome from the Indian-American community, the White House has indicated that the upcoming meeting between him and President Barack Obama will have a sharp economic focus to expand opportunities for people in both countries.
Modi, who is in the US to participate in the United Nations summit on development and give a boost to his ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ programmes, will meet President Barack Obama on September 28, his third summit meeting with the President in about a year. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest commented that “there are any number of reasons why the President would work closely with his counterpart, Prime Minister Modi”.
Modi, as Earnest put it, is a leader “who I know understands these kinds of dynamics and shares the President’s goal of trying to deepen these ties with an eye toward expanding economic opportunity for the citizens in both the United States and India”. “By strengthening these ties, we can expand economic opportunity in both of our countries,” he said, adding, “The more business that American businesses can do in India, the more economic opportunity that it creates back here in the United States. There’s also a potential that Indian businesses choosing to invest in the United States could also expand some economic opportunity here as well.”
On the long-pending issue of India’s bid to become a permanent member of an expanded UN Security Council, Earnest recalled President Obama’s announcement of American support on this score and said it continues to be the US position at a time when India is playing an increasingly important role around the world. “As the world’s largest democracy and as a country whose economic influence is only growing, we would welcome additional opportunities for India to take on additional responsibilities when it comes to contributing to the shared interests of the international community,” he said.
In this context, Earnest brought up the climate change issue, voicing US expectations that India would play “a constructive role” at the climate summit in Paris in December.
Indicating that this would be one of the topics of conversation between Obama and Modi, he commented that India could “make an important statement about the future of our planet by making a serious commitment in the context of those negotiations”.
Separately, 34 US lawmakers belonging to both the Republican and Democratic parties have issued a joint welcome letter for Modi, expressing their hope that his second US visit as Prime Minister would deepen Indian investment in US economy and use of American technological prowess to drive India’s development further.
“We applaud your and President Obama’s commitment to the strategic partnership which has already led to several accomplishments including the Delhi Declaration of Friendship, the adoption of a Joint Strategic Vision for Asia and Pacific and Indian Ocean region, and the announcement of renewal of the ten-year Defence Cooperation Agreement,” said the lawmakers, including George Holding and Ami Bera, the Republican and Democratic co-chairs of the House Caucus on India and Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
With all eyes on Modi’s Silicon Valley visit over the weekend, Google’s Indian-American CEO Sundar Pichai took to YouTube to welcome Modi to the tech wonderland, commenting: “There is tremendous excitement among Googlers, Indians in US for PM Modi’s visit.”
“The bond between India and Silicon Valley has been strong. India has been exporter of talent to tech companies,” he said in his video address, noting that products built by Indian graduates from IIT and other institutes have revolutionised the world.
He lauded Modi’s Digital India initiative, commenting: “India is undergoing its own revolution. This will get people in rural areas online. low cost of bandwidth, offline strategy, affordable phones will connect more people.”
The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, noted in a commentary that Modi remains “India’s best hope for an economic renaissance”.
“By reaching out directly to the American corporate sector, Modi hopes to bolster economic ties with the US and project India as a prominent investment destination,” wrote columnist Harsh V. Pant. As for investors’ disappointment over India’s slow pace of work on a new wave of reforms, he sought to blame it on the Opposition.