Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York on Friday pledging to engage with the United States on a sweeping set of issues — economics to strategy, defence to energy — and upgrade the bilateral relationship to a whole “new level.” Nine years after being denied a visa, Modi comes as a leader with a strong political mandate. On a fine day, hundreds of his supporters in the American-Indian community threw a “welcome party” at the Times Square. When the PM’s motorcade passed by, placards and chants of “har har Modi” set the tone for his five-day visit. Later, Modi came out of his huge convoy to greet a large number of Indians who had gathered outside his hotel. A speech at the United Nations General Assembly is only one stop in his packed diary as Modi has 50 engagements lined up — from Capitol Hill to various Indo-US business forums and at packed welcome events organised by the Indian diaspora. ALSO READ: Sharif rakes up Kashmir issue at UNGA, says disappointed over cancellation of talks by India Modi set a positive tone in a Wall Street Journal article today, calling the US India’s “natural global partner” and describing them as having “a fundamental stake in each other’s success for the sake of our values and our many shared interests”. “The US is our natural global partner. India and the US embody the enduring and universal relevance of their shared values,” Modi said. “India will be open and friendly — for business, ideas, research, innovations and travel. In the coming months, you will feel the difference even before you begin your travel to India.” Back home, US administration officials told The Indian Express that with an aim to coordinate positions on global issues, the PM and President Barack Obama are likely to launch a new dialogue on international organisations. This dialogue is meant to discuss global issues bilaterally, before they come to the multilateral forum so that the gap between the two countries can be bridged. “The two countries come from different histories, have different perspectives. such a dialogue mechanism will help in working on divergences and build on the convergences,” an officials said. In this context, Modi’s article in the Wall Street Journal has given confidence to the US administration. “The complementary strengths of India and the US can be used for inclusive and broad-based global development to transform lives across the world,” Modi wrote. “Because our countries’ values and interests are aligned, though our circumstances are different, we are in a unique position to become a bridge to a more integrated and cooperative world.” New Delhi and Washington will be discussing the threat of ISIS, especially since Obama has been reaching out to its strategic partners for cooperation in “degrading” and defeating the terrorist group. In this context, since India has experience in dealing with counter-terrorism, American officials are keen to exchange notes with their Indian counterparts. “The President has said that every country has a role to play in the fight against ISIS. He will certainly be reaching out to Prime Minister Modi for his government’s assistance in the fight against this group,” the US official said. On the areas of possible deliverables after the Modi-Obama summit meetings on September 29 and 30, the US officials indicated that the two sides will be focussing on “defence, security, clean energy and climate change” among other areas. With Modi at the helm, the Indian side has conveyed to their American counterparts that the new government is looking at “transformational” growth in the relationship, instead of the “incremental” growth in ties. On the issue of re-balancing in Asia, US officials said that India has a “strong” role to play and were encouraged by the government’s “look-east policy” transforming into “act east policy”.
