Top 10 takeaways from Modi’s U.S. visit

There were several crucial outcomes of the three-day trip, and here are the top highlights

June 27, 2017 02:52 pm | Updated 03:13 pm IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, in Washington DC, USA on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, in Washington DC, USA on Tuesday.

In focus during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. was his establishment of a personal equation with U.S. President Donald Trump. The result seems to be positive with Mr. Modi saying there was a perfect meeting of minds between the two. There were several other, crucial outcomes of the three-day trip, and here are the top highlights:

Top CEOs upbeat about India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met top American CEOs of global giants, including Apple, Microsoft and Google on issues ranging from visas, investment and job creation occupying the centre stage.

The CEOs round table was attended by Apple chief Tim Cook, Walmart head Doug McMillon, Caterpillar’s Jim Umpleby, Google head Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella. India's growth is a win-win situation for India and U.S., and companies have a great opportunity to contribute to that, Mr. Modi told the CEOs. The response from the CEOs were positive, with many signalling continued investment in India.

Pulling up Pakistan

The joint statement by Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi on Monday went beyond the earlier American position while pulling up Pakistan . “The leaders called on Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. They further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, Pathankot, and other cross-border terrorist attacks perpetrated by Pakistan-based groups,” said the joint statement.

Coming closer on fighting terrorism

Stressing that terrorism was a “global scourge that must be fought and terrorist safe havens rooted out in every part of the world,” the two leaders gave out a call root out “terrorist safe havens” in “every part of the world”.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi said they were “committed to strengthening cooperation against terrorist threats from groups including al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, D-Company, and their affiliates. India appreciated the United States designation of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leader as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist as evidence of the commitment of the United States to end terror in all its forms.”

Sale of 22 Guardian unmanned aerial systems

The US has cleared the sale of 22 unmanned Guardian drones to India, with the deal being termed as a “game changer”. The deal, estimated to be worth $2-3 billion, has been approved by the State Department, the sources said.

Maritime security and data sharing

The talks between the two leaders also touched on the topic of maritime security. Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump announced their intention to ‘build on the implementation of the “White Shipping” data sharing arrangement. The agreement allows countries to share data on maritime traffic and domain awareness.

They also spoke about the upcoming MALABAR naval exercise. “Noting the importance of the upcoming MALABAR naval exercise, the leaders determined to expand their engagements on shared maritime objectives and to explore new exercises,” the joint statement said.

Shifting focus from the Indo-Pacific

Though the two leaders said they would take measures to strengthen their partnership in the Indo-Pacific region, the language on this is much softer than earlier . They said they would: reiterate the importance of respecting freedom of navigation, overflight, and commerce throughout the region; and call upon all nations to resolve territorial and maritime disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law. This is more in line with Mr. Trump’s line on China.

U.S. LNG for India

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar told reporters that from next year liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. will start flowing to India . Expect in the next many years the Indo-U.S. LNG trade will be in excess of $40 billion, he said.

North Korea comes up

The two leaders touched on the topic of North Korea and condemned the country’s “continued provocations”. The statement said that they emphasised that North Korea’s “destabilising pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programs poses a grave threat to regional security and global peace.”

“The leaders pledged to work together to counter the DPRK’s weapons of mass destruction programs, including by holding accountable all parties that support these programs,” said the statement.

Climate change not on the agenda

Climate change, which was a major component of Mr. Modi’s engagement with Mr. Obama, did not come up in the joint statement with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump had announced that the US would be pulling out of the landmark Paris accord , pointing fingers at India and China. “ India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020. Think of it: India can double their coal production. We’re supposed to get rid of ours,” he had said. Mr. Modi, for his part, had said that India was committed to going “above and beyond” the Paris deal.

Ivanka in India

The President’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, will lead the U.S delegation to Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) later this year. GES is a key foreign policy initiative of former President Barack Obama to bring together global entrepreneurs and innovators, and India will be hosting its next edition. The event was expected to be a show of camaraderie between the two countries, and with Ms. Trump’s participation, it would be gaining gravitas. “I’m excited to report that the Prime Minister has invited my daughter, Ivanka, to lead the U.S. delegation,” said Mr. Trump.

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