How the U.S. Should Respond to the Rise of India
Allysa Ayers, Charles R. Kaye, Joseph S. Nye – Fortune
Because of the economic, national security, and global policy potential India presents, a rising India offers one of the most significant opportunities to advance American national interests over the next two decades….
Deepening ties will necessitate placing a higher priority on transforming the prickly economic dialogue between Washington and New Delhi—just as the civil nuclear deal transformed strategic ties over the past decade. Washington will need to shift gears in the way it approaches trade and other economic matters with India.
First and foremost, the United States should be much more ambitious in its trade and investment ties with India. India remains outside the major Asian trade initiative—the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—led by the United States. It is true India has adopted famously difficult negotiating stances in trade talks—but having no joint ambition will do little to change the status quo.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building is illuminated during a special “muhurat” trading session for Diwali, the festival of lights, in Mumbai, India, November 11, 2015. (Reuters)
Obama in India: 10 Major Takeaways for India & US From American President’s visit
The Editors – The Economic Times
The significance of the completion of the India-US nuclear deal cannot be overstated. Signed in 2005, with a Nuclear Suppliers Group waiver in 2008, the deal has been in limbo for few years….
While there were no immediate details on how the impasse had been broken, India will set up an insurance pool led by General Insurance Co and four other insurance companies of a total amount of Rs 750 crore [crore:10-million] to indemnify companies that build reactors in the country against liabilities in case of a nuclear accident….
Obama announced $4 billion of new initiatives aimed at boosting trade and investment ties as well as jobs in India…
In a not-so-veiled criticism of the notorious Indian red tape, Obama said India still had “too many barriers, hoops to jump through, bureaucratic restrictions that make it hard to start a business or export or import or close a deal… PM Modi has announced reforms that will overcome some of these barriers, including a new committee dedicated to fast-tracking US investments. We need to be fostering a business environment that is more accountable and transparent,” he said.
President Barack Obama’s Diwali message:
The Costs of Hindu Extremism
The Editorial Board – The New York Times
The dismay that many ordinary Indian citizens feel about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s willingness to tolerate, even encourage, the Hindu hard-liners in his own party has now spread to the financial community.
Last week, Moody’s Analytics, a division of the bond rating and risk management company, warned that Mr. Modi “must keep his members in check or risk losing domestic and global credibility” — meaning, in so many words, its attractiveness to international investors….
Among the sparks that have set off an extraordinary outpouring of citizen reaction are the August killing of Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi, a 76-year-old critic of Hindu idolatry, and Mr. Modi’s tardy condemnation of the lynching of a Muslim man in September by a Hindu mob enraged by a rumor that his family had killed a cow and eaten its meat….
This is not the India a vast majority of Indian citizens want and it is not an India that will attract the foreign investment Mr. Modi has worked hard to drum up on his many trips abroad.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends India’s Republic Day parade in New Delhi on Jan. 26, 2015. (Rteuters)