Congress on Wednesday sought to take the sheen out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent foreign tours, alleging India’s exports have dropped by a whopping 45 per cent despite him completing 30 foreign visits during his 18-month tenure. Modi also said that global Monetary Fund (IMF) should remain a quota based institution and not depend on borrowed resources.
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This was particularly true of the issue of Kashmir where the Labour government could not help but irritate New Delhi.
Modi’s address to the IAS officers comes at a time when IAS officers have shot off many letters to the department of personnel and training, apprehending that the seventh central pay commission may restore parity between different government services in terms of compensation and career progression.
Modi reiterated that India has targeted additional 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 besides cutting subsidies on fossil fuel, even as it has imposed a carbon cess on the use of coal. “We look forward to a successful outcome at the Nairobi Meeting in December”, he said, referring to the 2013 Ministerial Meeting held in the Indonesian island in 2013 and the upcoming one in Kenya during December 15-18.
Welcome Partners chairman, ethnic-Indian businessman Kishu Tirathrai said this was Modi’s first visit to Malaysia and the Indian community wanted to mark “this important visit of the leader of the world’s largest democracy”. India can leverage other British advantages as well. A few of the UK’s largest companies, including Unilever, HSBC and British American Tobacco, have deep roots in India, while newer brands such as Costa Coffee and Vodafone are also working hard to prosper in the country. “The importance India attaches to ties with Singapore is enormous”.
There was several hours of cultural entertainment before Modi took to the stage amid rapturous applause.
Although a few in India’s strategic community perceive the United Kingdom simply as a relative “declining” power with little relevance to the aspirations of a “rising” India, this is short-sighted. “Nehru was a great Indian, a great person, but his tendency to lean towards the Soviet Union and pick up a few of their bad habits lingered India for long time”, McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, said. Modi had an opportunity to clarify a few of these larger issues during his trip.
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While Mr Modi spoke in detail about the two countries working together on areas such as defence and climate change, the focal point for investors was his comments on the attractiveness of India as an investment destination. It’ll be now up to the two nations to build on its success.
