– NEW YORK
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has effectively laid the foundation for India’s rapid transformation and purposeful diplomacy leading to new terms of India’s engagement with the U.S., according to Indian Ambassador Arun K. Singh.
“As we celebrate one year of India’s current government, it is difficult not to see the changes in the way of doing business, and not to see in them cause for optimism,” he said June 16 in a keynote address at the Asia Society in New York. “Of course there is more to come in each of these, and I am confident that each passing year, we will make new progress,” Singh said speaking on the topic of “India under Modi: One Year In.”
Turning to what India’s transformative goals at home and creative diplomacy abroad mean for its relations with the U.S., Singh said: “In the past year, our relation with the US has been transformed. The U.S. was quick to offer to partner with India in realizing the goals that our new government set for India’s transformation, and as a result, the narrative in our relations has begun to reflect new found energy and optimism,” he said “The excellent personal friendship” enjoyed by Modi and President Barack Obama has “provided a solid political foundation for our overall relationship,” Singh said.
Sandra Peterson, the Group Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson, also on the panel of speakers, said while the conditions for doing business in India have improved and businesses are “thrilled by the shift” in India over the past year, there was still a lingering image problem. Therefore, India has to be more vocal about projecting its stability and image, she said. “
She said that democracy was “messy” in the U.S. and it was the case in India, but American business leaders don’t make the connection and see India’s democratic process in isolation.
Answering question from the audience about corruption, Peterson said that India was not as corrupt as many places and her company operated there under strict codes against corrupt practices. She added that corruption was not at the top of the list of concerns for businesses to operate in India.
International Monetary Fund Executive Director Rakesh Mohan said that in the last year, India has overcome the despondency that had marked the previous three years. Institutions abroad were more upbeat about India’s economy, with Citibank being the most optimistic, even more than the Reserve Bank of India or the Indian government, he said.
But private investment has yet to pick up, he said. Public sector investments would help lead the private sector out of the slowdown.
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is the president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, announced the formation of a policy initiative task force to create a road map for India to join the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). It is to be co-chaired by Ajay Banga, CEO of MasterCard, and Shyam Saran, chairman of the National Security Advisory Board.
Rudd said that it was important for both India and APEC for New Delhi to join it and many members favored it.
Shivshankar Menon, the former foreign secretary and national security adviser, said that there was a consistency to Indian foreign policy that was reassuring to the world. There was a progression from the National Democratic Alliance to the United Progressive Alliance, and now, to the BJP, with each government adopting the success of the previous government and “putting its gloss on it.”
The biggest change under Modi was India adopting a pro-West stance as seen in its “doubling down” in relations with the U.S. and even its building relations with Israel, he said.
A former U.S. State Department and National Security Council official, Ashley Tellis, said a welcome surprise for the U.S. was how Modi overlooked the denial of visa to him and has worked to further relations with Washington.
Indrani Bagchi, The Times of India’s senior diplomatic editor, said that the policy of “benign neglect” of Pakistan was likely to change eventually. She noted that in the past year there has been no major terrorist attack in India and infiltration of terrorists has come down.
Modi has used two state leaders to deal with difficult bilateral issue involving neighbors, she said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee was put at the forefront of his successful effort to implement a border agreement with Bangladesh, she said. Navigating the relationship with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa helped Modi deal with Sri Lanka, she added.
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