Kerry paves way for Obama visit to India
US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands with Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat
conference in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Picture: AFP PHOTO / RICK WILKING
The talks in Mr Modi’s fiefdom of Gujarat come just two weeks before US President Barack Obama will be guest of honour at India’s January 26 Republic Day celebrations — an unprecedented second visit to India by a sitting US president.
Mr Kerry and Mr Modi met on the sidelines of a major trade summit in the state capital Gandhinagar on Sunday aimed at attracting global investment to the western state — a model the Indian leader hopes to use to boost the nation’s economy.
The summit was attended by business and political leaders including United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. Addressing the summit, Mr Kerry said bilateral trade between the two countries had grown nearly fivefold since 2000 and bilateral foreign direct investment now stands at nearly $30bn.
Mr Modi swept to power in May elections last year, partly on a promise to revitalise the world’s third-largest economy. He pledged to the conference to slash red tape and banish India’s reputation as a hard place to do business.
A senior US state department official said Mr Modi was already removing barriers, helping "to make the business climate better for Indian businesses (and) are also going to help US businesses".
"They’re going to help India take its place in the global supply chain," the official said, but acknowledged some of the thorniest issues, such as on civilian liability for nuclear energy co-operation, had to be resolved.
India and the US, which have had bumpy relations at times, struck a landmark civilian nuclear deal in 2008. But US firms have been reluctant to get to work in India as they want greater protection from liability. The issue is sensitive in India, where thousands died in 1984 in a leak from a US-owned pesticide factory in Bhopal.
Mr Modi was long barred entry to the US because of his alleged links to anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002, in which more than 1,000 people died.
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