Washington, Oct 1 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi
wrapped up what he himself called a "hugely successful journey" to the
US, winning over everyone, from President Barack Obama down, hardselling
India to big business and wowing Indian-Americans.
If
star-struck Indian-Americans, a community that numbers about three
million and many of whom who played a big role in his "historic election
victory", gave him an unparalleled rock star like reception, the US
establishment treated him no less with Obama himself joining Modi on an
unscheduled trip to the memorial of African-American civil rights leader
Martin Luther King Jr.
In a joint vision statement and a joint
op-ed in the Washington Post, something again unprecedented, Modi and
Obama vowed to "chalein saath saath - together we go forward" with a new
agenda to realise the full potential of a renewed US-India partnership
for the 21st century.
Never once was mentioned the denial of a US
visa to Modi for nearly a decade nor a major diplomatic row over the
December arrest and strip search of an Indian diplomat that had
virtually stalled India-US relationship.
A US-India joint
statement issued after Tuesday's summit at the White House that lasted
nearly two hours listed what some critics called a 'laundry list' of
things they can do together in fields ranging from health and education
to space exploration. But the real significance of the trip lay in the
fact that it put the India-US partnership back on the rails. And, more
importantly, Modi secured a commitment from Obama to make joint and
concerted efforts to dismantle terrorist safe havens.
The
statement specifically mentioned four Pakistan-based groups - Lashkar-e
Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, the D-Company, and the Haqqanis besides Al
Qaeda - and also reiterated their call for Pakistan to bring the
perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to justice.
Shortly
after the statement, the US treasury targeted two Pakistan-based
terrorist organisations and froze the assets of their leaders for
providing financial support to Lashkar-e -Taeba (LeT) held responsible
for the Mumbai attacks.
Not unexpectedly, India and US failed to
reach a breakthrough on their landmark civil nuclear deal stalled over
India's tough liability laws. But, as Modi said after the summit with
Obama sitting by his side "we are serious about resolution of issues on
both sides to enable civilian nuclear energy cooperation to take off.
It is important for India's energy security."
Reaffirming their
commitment to implement fully the nuclear deal, they "established a
Contact Group on advancing the implementation of civil nuclear energy
cooperation."
It would discuss all implementation issues,
including liability, technical issues, and licensing to facilitate the
establishment of nuclear parks, including power plants with Westinghouse
and GE-Hitachi technology.
The statement said Modi "emphasized
the priority India accords to its partnership with the United States, a
principal partner in the realization of India's rise as a responsible,
influential world power."
And "given the shared values,
people-to-people ties, and pluralistic traditions, President Obama
recognized that India's rise as a friend and partner is in the United
States" it said.
Noting that two-way trade has increased fivefold
since 2001 to nearly $100 billion, the two leaders committed to
facilitate the actions necessary to increase trade another fivefold.
The proposed steps include establishing an Indo-US Investment Initiative an Infrastructure Collaboration Platform.
India will welcome two trade missions in 2015 focused on meeting India's infrastructure needs with US technology and services.
Modi
ended his action packed journey, throughout which he has been
hardselling India to US business, with an address to the US-India
Business Council comprising 310 top US companies doing business with
India.
Promising to replace bureaucratic red tape with a red
carpet, he invited them to come to India and make in India saying "This
is a win-win situation."
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)