Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that whenever India and US work together, the world reaps benefits.In a signed article in the Wall Street Journal, he said, the two countries have partnered on global good.
Mr Modi said, collaborative efforts between the two countries to find affordable vaccines for rotavirus or dengue, joint studies of gravitational waves, observations of distant planets, establishing norms for cyberspace, providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the Indo-Pacific region, or training peacekeepers in Africa have benefited the world.
The Prime Minister listed defence as an area of convergence, saying, both India and the US have an overriding interest in securing our societies, and the world, from the forces of terrorism, radical ideologies and nontraditional security threats. He said, India has four decades’ experience in fighting terrorism, and we share the US administration’s determination to defeat this scourge.
Mr Modi said, the logic of our strategic relationship is incontrovertible. Mr Modi said, it is further underpinned by faith in the strength of our multicultural societies that have defended our values at all costs, including the supreme sacrifices we have made in distant corners of the globe.
Writing about a growing convergence between India and the US, Prime Minister said, he expects the next few decades to be an even more remarkable story of ambitious horizons, convergent action and shared growth. Mr Modi described the two countries as mutually reinforcing engines of growth and innovation in an uncertain global economic landscape. He said, bilateral trade, which already totals about 115 billion dollars a year, is poised for a multi-fold increase.
The Prime Minister pitched for the mega reform Goods and Services Tax (GST) to American business. Mr Modi said, Indian companies are adding value to the manufacturing and services sectors in the US, with total investments of approximately 15 billion dollars and a presence in more than 35 states, including in the Rust Belt. American companies have likewise fueled their global growth by investing more than 20 billion dollars in India.
With India’s biggest tax reform set to be launched later this week, Mr Modi writes that the transformation of India presents abundant commercial and investment opportunities for American businesses. He said, the roll-out of the GST on July 1 will, in a single stroke, convert India into a unified, continent-sized market of 1.3 billion people.
Mr Modi said, the planned 100 smart cities, the massive modernization of ports, airports, and road and rail networks, and the construction of affordable housing for all by 2022 – the 75th anniversary of India’s independence – are not just promises of great urban renewal within India.
He said, these plans also showcase the enormous fruits of our relationships with enterprising US partners-worth many billions of dollars over the next decade alone-together with concomitant new employment opportunities across both societies.
