PM returns home after five-day visit to US

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By sagarmedia on October 2, 2014

 Oct 2,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived back home last night after successfully completing his five-day visit to the United States.

There were many takeaways from his US visit. India and US resolved to broaden their cooperation in various fields including defence, intelligence, counter-terrorism, Afghanistan, space exploration and science.

The two countries also agreed to intensify cooperation in maritime security to bolster national, regional, and global security.

Both the countries agreed to dismantle the safe havens for terrorists and disrupt the financial support of Laskar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e Mohmmad, D-Company, Hqqani network and Al-Qaeda. The two countries also agreed for trilateral partnership in Afghanistan and African countries.

Noting that two-way trade has increased fivefold since 2001 to nearly 100 billion US dollars, the two leaders committed to increase trade another fivefold.

They pledged to establish an Infrastructure Collaboration Platform to enhance participation of US companies in infrastructure projects in India.

They also agreed for US industry to be the lead partner in developing smart cities in Allahabad, Vishakhapatnam and Ajmer.

US will also help in providing sanitation and drinking water in 500 ciites.

The two leaders committed to hold public-private discussions in early 2015 on advanced manufacturing and to facilitate greater confidence in cross-border trade and investment.

US President Obama also offered support for preparing young Indians for jobs by sharing expertise and global standards for skills development.

They reaffirmed their commitment to fully implement the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation agreement. They also agreed to a new and enhanced strategic partnership on energy security, clean energy, and climate change.

The leaders agreed to develop affordable vaccines for dengue, malaria, and tuberculosis and initiate cooperative activities to increase capacity in cancer research and patient care delivery.

In the first leg of his US visit, Mr Modi spent four days in New York, where he addressed the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 27th, and stormed the Indian American community by addressing the diaspora at Madison Square Garden on September 28th.

He announced lifetime visa for people of Indian origin card holders and the merger of People of Indian Origin scheme and Overseas Citizens of India scheme into one scheme.

He also announce that visa on arrival facility will be provided to American tourists.

In New York, Mr Modi also held meetings with a host of top American businessmen and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

In Washington, he addressed US India Business Council. He invited global companies to invest in India and impressed upon them that India is changing and steps are being taken to improve the ease of doing business in the country.