Business with India

Manmohan Singh was accidental finance minister, Narasimha Rao led 1991 reforms and foreign policy reset: Sanjaya Baru

- by India Writes Network

Who was the architect of India’s path-breaking economic reforms of 1991? No prize for guessing it? Think again, it’s time to get it right! In this wide-ranging conversation with Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, Dr Baru, a former media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a veteran journalist, speaks about defining events of 1991, the pivotal year in not just India’s economic journey, but also in the country’s politics and foreign policy, and the crucial role of Narasimha Rao in shaping outcomes conducive to India’s national interests. In the realm of foreign policy, Dr Baru outlines defining steps taken by Narasimha Rao in response to emerging global power shifts, including the launch of Look East policy, resetting relations with the US and China and the outreach to Israel. Commenting on the ongoing political churn in India, the author says that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2004 election victory has brought a quarter century of accidental prime ministers in the country to an end, but he needs a second term to leave a lasting legacy. Excerpts from the interview) – Read more….

Read More

India & LAC: A Narrative of Opportunity

- by Manish Chand

It’s time for Latin America in India and India in Latin America. Away from the noise of screaming headlines and geopolitical games, there will be quiet celebrations to toast the blossoming India-Latin America & the Caribbean relations in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, famed for tequila, peppy mariachi music and Indian IT companies. For two days (November 28-29), ministers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, policy-makers and analysts of India and over 25 LAC countries will gather in the bustling economic hub of Mexico to flesh out a robust vision of upscaling this crucial partnership that is bound by convergent interests and mutual goodwill.
Defying downbeat trends in an uncertain global economic landscape, India, the world’s fastest growing economy, is betting big on Latin America, an emerging growth pole of the world, and vice-versa. Together, both sides, fired by a can-do optimism, are determined to shape a narrative of opportunity and bring it to fruition.
This emerging alchemy of economic and strategic interests between the two far-off but increasingly connected regions will be showcased and dissected at the first India-Latin America & Caribbean Conclave to be held in the LAC region.
Blending diplomacy with business and culture with connectivity, the India-LAC relations are set to move onto a higher stratosphere. In the region in which myths intersect with reality effortlessly, generating magical moments, some focused pragmatic steps combined with inspired diplomacy can widen the arc of the India-LAC partnership and help fructify new dreams and new possibilities inherent in this burgeoning relationship. It’s time to tango, and match steps, as they say out there.

Read More

Modi trumpets ‘Incredible India of credible policies’ in Tokyo

- by Manish Chand

Kindling the India growth story anew on a wet and rainy day in the Japanese capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the centrality of India-Japan relations in Asia’s emergence and pitched for more enhanced investments from Asia’s second largest economy.

The conference hall at Keidanren, the seat of Japan’s all-powerful corporate body, was buzzing with energy and enthusiasm as Mr Modi addressed a galaxy of top Japanese leaders and highlighted a set of steps taken by his government which have made India the world’s most attractive investment destination.

“Today, India is on the path of several major transformations. We have taken decisive steps and built a governance system that will help India realize its potential. The results are already visible,” Mr Modi said.“Today, India is on the path of several major transformations. We have taken decisive steps and built a governance system that will help India realize its potential. The results are already visible,” Mr Modi said.

“Even against a weak international economic scenario, the news from India is of strong growth and abundant opportunities. It is of Incredible opportunities, and about India’s Credible Policies.”

Read More

India, UK reboot ties: Focus on enhancing defence and anti-terror cooperation

- by Manish Chand

In the first meeting between their leaders after Britain’s planned exit from the European Union, India and the United Kingdom unveiled a decadal vision to reboot their multi-faceted relationship, with Britain offering its support for the Make in India project of joint defence manufacturing and encouraging the rise of India as a major global player.
The two countries also decided to scale up their counter-terror cooperation, with Britain supporting India’s stand on collective global action against states that sponsor terrorism and provide sanctuaries to terrorists.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and her British counterpart Theresa May held wide-ranging talks at the stately Hyderabad House in New Delhi on November 7, their first full-spectrum meeting since May became the prime minister of the UK in July. The outcomes that emanated from the talks indicated a deepening of economic and strategic partnership between the two countries, which was crystallised in the joint statement entitled “India-UK Strategic Partnership looking forward to a renewed engagement: Vision for the decade ahead.”
The broad narrative that emerged from the talks between PM Modi and Theresa May was the political resolve of the two sides to reinvigorate this crucial bilateral relationship, with Britain supporting India’s greater international role, and its global aspirations for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Read More

G20 summit: India, China converge on G20 agenda, Modi calls for action-oriented agenda for growth

- by Manish Chand

It’s time to move beyond empty talk and forge an action-oriented agenda for collective action to forge more efficient and effective global economic and financial architecture. This was the central thrust of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention at the ongoing G20 summit of the world’s major economies in Hangzhou, the picturesque city famed for its iconic West Lake.
Mr Modi’s speech at the G20 summit saw a striking convergence with key thoughts expressed by President Xi Jinping at the opening of the summit on September 4, reflecting prospects of enhanced global cooperation between Asia’s second and third largest economies amid notes of dissonance on some bilateral issues. In his remarks at the summit, Mr Xi, the host of the G20 summit, lauded Mr Modi for his leadership of the Indian economy, and singled out India’s energy policy for special praise.
Building upon central tropes of his intervention on the Day 1 of the G20 summit the previous day, Mr Modi underscored the imperative need for “more efficient and effective global economic and financial governance,” and reiterated zero tolerance for corruption and black money, the twin issues which are also central to his domestic agenda for economic rejuvenation of India.
“G20 needs an action-oriented agenda of collective, coordinated and targeted action,” Mr Modi had told the world leaders on September 4. “To benefit all, G20 would need to act decisively. This will also require strong network of partnerships,” he said. Read more…

Read More

Reform, Perform, Transform: Modi flags off journey from Swarajya to Surajya (Highlights of PM’s speech)

- by India Writes Network

As India celebrated its 70th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled his vision for transforming India through Reform and Perform mantra and outlined his vision of the ongoing journey from swarajya (self-rule) to su-rajya (good governance). In his third Independence Day speech, PM Modi, with his trademark oratory, eloquently expounded on the steps taken by his government to rejuvenate the country’s economy and rebuild India anew on the principles of social equity and communal harmony.
Highlights
Here are highlights of PM Modi’s address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi on the occasion of 70th Independence Day (August 15, 2016)
Today on this special day, I convey my greetings to 125 crore Indians & the Indian community living overseas. May this energy guide the nation to scale newer heights of progress in the years to come.
Our mantra is reform, perform, transform.
Today our resolve is to turn the Swaraj (Self-Rule) into Su-Rajya (Good governance. Surajya means a qualitative and positive change in the lives of the citizens of India.
It is our responsibility to convert our Swaraj into Suraaj, which can’t be done without sacrifice, discipline and staunch resolution.

Read More