Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, came to Silicon Valley over the weekend and wooed and wowed the tech crowd,” said the influential New York Times in a report at the end of his 36-hour whirlwind tour of America’s high-tech hub. The report ran a headline, saying Modi “conquers” the Valley.
Meanwhile, speaking at a leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping, hosted by President Barack Obama in New York on Tuesday, Modi reaffirmed India’s commitment to UN peacekeeping efforts and announced plans to contribute an additional battalion of 850 troops for the purpose.
He said the success of UN peacekeeping operations around the world will ultimately depend on the “moral force” of decisions by UN Security Council, thus making a renewed pitch for completing the long-pending council reforms within a fixed time-frame.
Modi sought to highlight the point that over 180,000 Indian troops have participated in UN peacekeeping missions over the years. However, the PM rued that countries contributing troops do not have a role in the decision-making process.
A day earlier, the NYT had run another story, suggesting that India has replaced China as the next big frontier for US tech giants.
The paper went on to say that the Modi visit spending time in the heart of Silicon Valley was “a contrast to the command performance that China’s leader, Xi Jinping, had technology chief executives put on for him last week” in Seattle. With his packed
schedule of interactions with tech entrepreneurs and executives, Modi has evinced a “desire to build up India as a tech destination,” it said, adding, “Modi may well get his wish, as companies, including Facebook and Google are racing to get into India after being shut out of China.”
Of late, Silicon Valley appears to have become a veritable must-see destination for many world leaders. The Washington Post chronicled how the tech hub has been receiving a wave of foreign dignitaries in recent times.
“Heads of State from Japan and Brazil visited earlier this year, following earlier trips by the leaders of Ireland, Israel, Russia and Malaysia. The region is so popular that last year the nonprofit Silicon Valley Office of Protocol opened its doors to help with the finer points of international diplomacy, including etiquette and manners,” said the paper, noting it remains unclear if these visits by heads of states result in actual business deals or propel countries down a more entrepreneurial path.
Speaking at a leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping, his last engagement in the US before leaving for India, Modi expressed satisfaction that the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations has recognised issues related to UN reforms. lauding the UN Secretary General for his prompt report on the panel’s recommendations, he called for its early consideration.
“India’s commitment to UN Peacekeeping remains strong and will grow,” he said and announced the new intended contributions. At the same time, he pointed out that today’s peacekeepers are called upon not only to maintain peace and security, but also address a range of complex challenges.
Besides the additional battalion of up to 850 troops, he announced three more police units with higher representation of female peacekeepers, a commitment to provide critical enablers, deployment of technical personnel and additional training for peacekeepers at facilities in India and in the field.
He also pointed out India was the first country to contribute a Female Formed Police Unit to the UN Mission in liberia. As for training peacekeeping officers from other nations, he said India has so far trained nearly 800 officers from 82 countries.
Paying homage to peacekeepers who have laid down their lives in defending the highest UN ideals, Modi called for early construction of the proposed memorial wall and said India is ready to contribute towards this objective.
Modi said Indian soldiers had been working on peacekeeping missions since World War II during which it lost more than 24,000 troops and nearly half of that went missing. “This legacy of sacrifice is shared by three nations present here,” he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan and Bangladesh. He said that a memorial wall for the fallen peacekeepers should be erected expeditiously, for which India will contribute financially also.