Agencies
GANDHINAGAR, JANUARY 12
US secretary of state John Kerry on Monday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to woo investors to reboot a flagging economy hamstrung by tepid growth and slow reforms.
He listed a four-point agenda — climate change, defence, civil nuclear energy and cooperation on anti-terrorism measures — on which the two countries are committed to work and strengthen US-India relationship. “Under Modi, it has become clearer for the American companies to invest in India,” said Kerry, who is on a two-day visit to Gujarat for the Vibrant Gujarat summit. “We will work towards Modi’s vision to supply 24x7 electricity to India. We are committed to work with India to reach a landmark climate change agreement in Paris at the end of this year.”
The secretary of state said the four points are expected to be discussed when President Barack Obama and Modi meet later this month.
“He is excited to be the chief guest at the function (Republic Day) and the fact that he is the first US president to visit India twice during his term really says a lot about the values both countries have placed on the criticality of the relationship,” he said.
“The goal is to have very concrete and tangible things so that we can show forward movement on when President Obama and Prime Minister Modi meet, including on climate change.”
Modi and Kerry discussed bilateral relations, progress of the economic relations and the President’s visit for around 30 minutes after the inauguration of the summit on Sunday. “I think the Prime Minister has made it clear that he wants to move rapidly to make things happen in India,” the secretary of state said.
He said US investment in India has gone up from $2.4 billion to $28 billion, as did India’s investment in the US that has surged from $3 billion to $9 billion.
Kerry also praised the summit where he met a number of CEOs and business leaders and got “an opportunity to gain significantly from growing US-India relations”. “This morning, I visited the Ford plant. Ford is investing a billion US dollars in Gujarat for building its car factory which will supply cars not only to India but will be exported too.”
